The Demon experiments
by Michi-nii
Summary: A/U When genetically altered humans find themselves out of the lab, how will they react to the world around them? And how will others react to them?
1. Gaara's beginning

**A/N- There may be character deaths later on in the story, I haven't decided yet and there may be pairing. If there are any pairings it will be either Gaara/Naru or Sasu/Naru but again I havent decided yet. Just thought I'd warn people now. ^^**

* * *

A person lay lifeless on the floor in front of me, blood leaking out of him sluggishly, staining the ground red. I was staring down at it. I don't know why but it held me, the body's dull eyes staring up at me. The face twisted into a look of horror and agony. The torso ripped up with wounds. I think I was in shock, frozen staring into his eyes. A sharp pain went through the back of my skull and then suddenly I was running, fear and adrenaline pumping through me. A trickle of blood ran down my face into my eye, my mouth. I tasted the sweet metallic taste and spat, shaking my head trying to get it out of my vision. A hand grabbed me from behind and pulled me to the ground.

_I should have been panicking. I'd been beaten to the point where I could no longer move. Just lying on the floor waiting for my fate, feeling the cold hard ground against my face. The sound of screams reached me but I felt numb to them, like they had nothing to do with me. I could hear words being shouted, but they made no sense. Just that piercing scream that slices through a person, echoed around my head. A metallic 'SLICK' cut off the scream. There was a soft thud and the scent of fresh blood reached me. I know I should have been upset, terrified even by what had happened but I wasn't. It felt like a dream. Like in a moment someone would wake me up saying everything was alright. But it wasn't alright. No-one would help me, no-one could and I had resigned myself to that fact._

_And that was my earliest memory._

Gaara awoke in his cell. He hated having that dream. It felt like it was trying to drag up emotions that had long since been destroyed and it just bugged him. He sat up on his bunk and tried to remember more of it. He had no idea who the dead man had been or the person who had been screaming. He didn't even know why he had been there or where he had been going. That section of memory was the only thing he could ever remember. Every other thought or memory from before that moment had been taken from him, erased. He didn't know if he had a family or what they were like, he didn't know how he used to act before being brought here. All he knew was what happened here, the place he had been taken to the night of that incident.

He flopped back down on the bed and looked around. He could see some of the other children in the cells either side of him, still sound asleep. There was always nine children altogether. At the moment there were some older and some younger than Gaara. The older ones were the ones that had survived the longest. Every time one of them died, a new child was brought in. But no one had died lately. The children all had their different strengths but they were all evenly matched when put against each other. They'd all had the same training. Tests in strength, intelligence and accuracy. You learnt quickly here, if you didn't understand something or you got it wrong you were beaten. Sometimes even to the point of death. So it became a survival instinct to learn.

Some people didn't get that though. He looked over at the cell to his right; the child sleeping there had just been beaten this morning. His arm hung over the bunk, so Gaara could see some of the bruises and cuts that were healing. He wasn't the brightest of the bunch and was always getting the intelligence testing wrong. But even so, he was one of the strongest of the group so the scientists hadn't given up on him yet.

But before even this type of training, your strength was determined in your first year here .The first year here is an intense 'training' system, when the real testing was done. This was when they got inside your head to see if you were compatible with whatever they were doing. They changed you from the inside. Gaara still after all these years didn't know what this was all for. He'd been told once, "You have a purpose. We're making you better." When he had asked what the purpose was he had been laughed at and the reply had been, "You're not ready to know yet. You're not complete." It had confused him at the time, but he didn't care anymore, not that he had a choice in that matter.

Gaara realised he'd been staring into the other cell all the time he had been thinking. A bright blue eye was staring back at him. He looked away quickly pretending he hadn't done anything but he could see out of the corner of his eye that the other boy had sat up. "Hey, Gaara? What are you doing up?" Gaara looked back to see the boy looking at him in tired confusion, his blonde hair sticking up everywhere.

"I'm not doing anything." Gaara replied curtly. It was strange, most of the children had been here for years but they never spoke to each other. It probably had something to do with the fact that every week or so they were made to fight each other. That's how most of the children had been killed, either by another child or by not wanting to participate. If you tried not to fight you were killed, so the children had to do it. Because of this the children didn't exactly trust each other.

The other boy frowned and jumped down from his bunk. He walked over to the barred wall that separated his and Gaara's cells. "No need to be like that. I was just asking." He pouted. "We never get to talk in the daytime, so I thought as we were both awake we could now." He grinned up at Gaara. "It gets so boring here, not talking don't you think?"

Gaara blinked at him. "I don't find it boring." He saw the other boy's face fall and sighed. "But fine, I'll talk to you, I've got nothing better to do." He was a little bit curious as to what the other guy wanted to talk about. He got up and went over to the bars separating them as well and they both sat down.

The other boy grinned again; it was a very mischievous grin, like he was planning something. The grin slipped slightly when he realised he didn't have anything to say. He couldn't ask what Gaara did in his spare time because they didn't have any and there was no concept of 'fun' here. So he said the first thing that popped into his head. "So, if we're talking like this, does it make us friends?"

Gaara snorted and looked away. "Friends? What's the point? We could be at each other's throats tomorrow for all we know." The fights were randomly selected beforehand, none of the children ever knew who they were fighting until a few moments before the fight. Gaara had fought the boy before him many times. Gaara always seemed to have an advantage at the beginning of the fights but the boy would always stand up again after every hit. He would never stay down or give up a fight so the fights had always ended when they had both been knocked out.

The boy frowned again. His face was always animated with one emotion or another unlike Gaara who didn't show any emotion, mostly because he didn't have much emotion to show. "Does that matter? Friends fight don't they?" He looked confused, he'd never had a friend so he didn't know how they behaved.

Gaara looked back at the boy and tilted his head also confused. How did friends act? He growled after awhile and gave up. "How should I know?" He said shrugging.

The boy grinned. "Well, in our friendship, friends can fight, ok? We'll make up other stuff as we go along, yeah? Yeah?" Gaara sighed. Damn, this guy was persistent.

Gaara smirked slightly. "Fine." For some reason this boy brought a slight smile to his face, which was odd as Gaara never smiled.

The boy beamed at him. "So, we're friends now, Gaara?"

"Yeah, we're friends, Naruto." Gaara felt strange calling the other boy by his name, he wasn't used to talking to people like this.

The mischievous grin was back on Naruto's face. "As we are now friends, I think we should do something together."

"Like what?"

"I think we should play a prank."


	2. Escape!

**A/N: Sorry guys but I've decided if I do a main pairing in this story, it will be Gaara x Naruto ^^ doesn't mean I will because I'll probably fail at it XD. I may do some small pairings because with the idea I have it will be funny...well hopefully. That will probably be Sakura x Lee but if you think it should be different please tell me ^o^.**

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"A prank?" Gaara looked at Naruto to see if he was joking. When he realised he wasn't he looked away and thought about it for a second. His mind registered that it might be interesting to do something different for a change instead of following the same routine. He looked back at Naruto, "What did you have in mind?"

Naruto's grin became even bigger before he became serious and looked around to make sure everyone else was still asleep. "OK, here's what I thought. Lately the security around here has become lax, you've noticed that right?"

Gaara nodded. He had noticed. Lately there were only one or two guards that came to check on them every hour or so when they were sleeping. When they had first been brought here there had been a guard stationed at all times in the corridor to make sure none of them made a break for it.

Naruto nodded back before continuing "Well, I think the reason for this is that they don't think any of us will try and escape now because we're used to it here." He grinned again. "So, I think we show them what we can do, show them how rubbish their security has got." He suddenly looked apprehensive. "So what do you think?"

Gaara thought for a moment. "If it's a prank, that means we'll be coming back right? It will just be to show them that we could escape if we wanted to?" He saw Naruto nod and carried on thinking. He was indifferent to everything that went on here now; he neither liked nor disliked it here. If they were caught trying to escape they'd probably be killed, but maybe because of that risk it would be exciting. An evil smirk flitted across his face for a second before it returned to his normal look of indifference. "You've got me interested, so what do we do?"

Naruto laughed quietly, happy that Gaara was willing to do this with him. "Don't worry, leave it to me. We'll leave tomorrow night. Be ready, OK?"

Gaara looked slightly puzzled. "You don't need me to do anything?"

Naruto shook his head and put a finger to his lips, a light was just coming around the corner at the other end of the corridor. The guard was making his rounds. "Just be ready tomorrow" he whispered.

When the guard got to their cells, they were both back in bed pretending to be asleep, to the guard it just looked like it did every night. He would never know that only a few seconds ago, they were planning a feat that would change everything.

* * *

The next day Naruto and Gaara acted like nothing had happened. They didn't speak to each other, just like all the other kids. So that they wouldn't arouse suspicion. But Gaara kept an eye on Naruto, to see what his next move was. What was he going to do so that they could escape tonight? What _could_ he do? Gaara couldn't think of anything that would work. They'd have to be quiet, make it look like nothing had happened for when the guards came round, sneak out of the base. It just wasn't possible.

Gaara sat down for breakfast in the big hallway. There was one table set out for all the children, he was at one end and he could see Naruto at the other, sitting next to the youngest member of the group, a young girl. Gaara looked down as a tray was placed before him. The food was always different and testing would begin afterwards. The food was full of different chemicals and nutrients each day to see how they affected the children. Today it was some kind of soup, it didn't look very appetising but Gaara started eating without even worrying about it.

He heard a small splash and a scream at the other end of the table. He looked up to see what the commotion was. The girl Naruto had been sitting next to was standing up and backing away from the table. The boy opposite her was covered in the soup she had had before her and was looking very disgruntled. Two of the scientists came rushing over and started asking questions, blocking Naruto from view. Gaara suspected that Naruto had had something to do with what had happened but said nothing, wondering how this would help them later.

After that the day carried on as usual, the routine setting in once again. After breakfast the tests began, the IQ tests first. These tests ended, Naruto already starting the day with new bruises. Then the light exercise then began. Monitoring the pulse, the blood pressure as they did basic weight lifting and running. A small break before some weapons training, for accuracy. And then the group was put together again and led to the arena, where two of them would be put against each other in battle.

Gaara looked at Naruto wondering what would happen if today they were picked to enter the arena and fight. Just because they were now friends didn't mean they could just say no to fighting each other, they would be seen as weak and killed. He turned to the scientist as he got ready to read out the names of the children to fight today. He relaxed when he heard the names read out. Neither him or Naruto were fighting today, it was the girl that had screamed earlier and the boy who she had tipped her soup over this morning. He watched the fight commence before becoming bored and looking to see if Naruto had made any progress for their plan later. He saw Naruto wince down at the two children fighting, almost as if he felt guilty. The boy won but only marginally, he didn't have the strength to kill her, he was close to passing out himself. He heard a small sigh of relief and turned to see Naruto, which confused him. Why would he care what happened in this fight? Gaara shrugged and left it at that, maybe he'd ask him later if they had time.

* * *

Gaara waited until the guard had done his first rounds of the night before getting up out of bed and going to the bars separating the cells. He watched Naruto do the same and they both sat down. "So did you do whatever you needed to?"

Naruto grinned and pulled some keys out of his pocket. "Yep, we're ready to go." He stood up.

Gaara grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Mind telling me how you got them? We need to talk out how were gonna do this anyway."

Naruto nodded slightly. "Fine but we have to be fast. We can't risk there being guard nearby." H looked around to make sure everything was OK. "I caused the commotion earlier, when the guy came over to see what was happening, I swiped the keys out of his back pocket. He didn't even notice." Naruto laughed quietly.

Gaara shook his head; the security really was poor at the moment. "So that's why you looked guilty at the fight earlier, because you had caused everything this morning." Gaara stopped for a second and looked Naruto straight in the eye. "What did you do to the girl?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "I found out awhile ago that she has a fear of bugs." Gaara looked at him in disbelief. "What? Not all of us had our emotions changed." He winced. "Sorry, didn't mean to say that. Anyway they may change her now." He shook his head trying to rid himself of the thoughts. "Anyway I found a spider in here yesterday, so I grabbed it this morning." He pointed to a corner of the ceiling. "That's its web there. I put it into her soup this morning."

Gaara snorted and stood up stretching. "Well, I wouldn't have expected that. Which is good because hopefully they haven't either. So what's the plan for now?"

Naruto went over to his cell door and slid one of the keys into the lock. The lock and key had a corresponding number which made it easier for the scientists to open the cells, but also at this moment made it easier for them to get free. He walked around to Gaara's cell door. "Well actually, I thought we could make it up as we go along."

Gaara stood up and walked to the door as Naruto opened it and walked out beside him. "So you made a big plan for earlier but haven't actually thought this far ahead?" He looked at Naruto smirking slightly.

"Quiet you." Was all he got as a response.

They snuck down the corridor staying close to the walls so that they stayed hidden in shadows. It also meant they were further away from the other cells and hopefully wouldn't wake anyone else up. They made it out of the corridor, down past the testing rooms and the arena and came out next to the hall where they had eaten earlier.

That's when it all went wrong.

The corridor they were in had three doors, the one they had just come through and two opposite each other. Through one door was the hall. Through the other was the exit and in Gaara's eyes, their ticket to freedom. The only problem was that the light from a torch was coming through the glass in the doorway, meaning the guard had started his rounds again. Naruto was about to speak but Gaara covered his mouth and pulled him over so that they were hidden completely in shadows. For the moment anyway.

The guard entered the corridor and went straight over to the door to the hall and unlocked it. He stood in the doorway shining his torch in making sure there were no intruders. Quick as a flash Gaara was behind him. He hit him in the back of the neck, making him fall unconscious without a sound. Gaara stopped him from falling and dragged him into the hall fully and laid him on the floor.

"What are you-?" Naruto went silent as Gaara looked at him sharply. He followed Gaara out of the hall and watched him lock the guard in. "Why?"

Gaara looked at him, "You do realise that if we're seen trying to escape we're dead right?"

Naruto paled "Maybe we shouldn't do this." He stepped back, this idea seemed bad to him now. Like he'd made a really stupid mistake.

Gaara shook his head. "We'll be fine now." He looked over at the other door. "Come on, let's just get outside its only one more corridor." He saw Naruto agree and walked crouched through the door. At the other end was the doorway to freedom and halfway along was the reception area where people signed in, a light was on inside. He looked round at Naruto and put a finger to his lips and Naruto nodded. They crouched lower and slid across the wall going under the little window of the reception. They stayed crouched until they got to the door and silently opened it, slipping out.

Gaara breathed in deeply, it felt good to breathe fresh air again. He looked around and saw the fencing around laboratory but also the area that lay beyond it. It was wasteland but it stretched for miles around. Though he didn't show it, he felt that if he crossed that fence he would be free, and now that he could taste that freedom there was no way he was going back in that laboratory.

He looked around at Naruto who looked scared and nervous. "It's so big." He whispered. He looked at Gaara. "We should go back now."

Gaara closed his eyes and breathed in again. "But it's so refreshing out here." He looked at Naruto. "Why don't we just leave?"

Naruto looked shocked. "Leave? That was never the plan." He looked around again at the area as if he was thinking about what it was like out there.

Gaara realised this was his chance; Naruto's curiosity was getting the better of him. "Come on Naruto. Think of the adventures we could have." He felt strange like he was truly excited but he didn't know how when his emotions had been taken away. He decided not to think about that at the moment. "You're not scared are you? Not that it matters, I'll protect you if you want." He walked forward and held his hand out to Naruto.

Naruto snorted. "I'm not scared!" He strode forward purposefully and Gaara knew that he had won, they were going to run away together. Even though Naruto tried to look fearless he grabbed Gaara's hand as he passed. He looked embarrassed and muttered. "Can't lose my friend, can I?" Trying to make an excuse for it.

Gaara chuckled slightly as he felt Naruto squeeze his hand quite tightly. He knew that Naruto was really scared of the outside world. Most memories were taken, so you forgot just how big everything was. He looked up at the night sky, at the twinkling stars, before continuing forward. "Let's go then."

An alarm sounded. The guard had been found. Quickly Gaara pulled Naruto up to the fence and then let go of his hand so that they could climb. They scaled the fence, the barbed wire at the top ripping into their hands and then their legs and feet as they pulled themselves over.

"Ow" Naruto winced as they jumped down and landed on the other side, his feet bleeding.

"No time, sorry" Gaara grabbed his hand again and they were running fall pelt across the land. They stumbled at points and pulled each other up so that it didn't slow them down. It was lucky they had had so much training otherwise they would have had to stop and that wasn't an option at the moment.

Awhile later they made it to a road where they stopped for a second, panting. It felt good to be on tarmac instead of the small stones and sandy area they had been running on. They both looked the way they had come and saw that the outside of the laboratory was fully lit up.

"Wow, so this is what it looks like from the outside." Naruto mumbled. Other than the lights, the place looked derelict from the outside. Like it hadn't been used in years. He looked down at the road they were on. "Why do you think there's a strip of land that isn't as painful to walk on?"

Gaara shrugged. "It's probably got a purpose of some sort." He looked around at Naruto who was looking over Gaara's shoulder stunned. "What?" He spun round and saw two lights coming towards them. He squinted seeing a metal frame behind it.

"What is it?" Naruto whispered.

Gaara grit his teeth and pulled Naruto behind him. "I don't know but whatever it is, it's not good." He heard Naruto squeak and looked around seeing another one coming up behind them. He growled slightly. The things stopped a few metres away from them. A man got out of the one in front causing Naruto to gasp and to tighten his grip on Gaara's hand again. This made them both wince from the cuts along their hands.

The man walked forward slightly, Gaara couldn't see him properly because of the light directly behind him, and so he didn't know if he recognised him or not.

"What are you two doing out here so late at night?"

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**A/N: Sorry it took so long to write this . It was really hard but hopefully it wont take as long for the other chapters!!!**


	3. Captured again?

**A/N: Happy Birthday for tomorrow vamp-gal!!! ^-^...I thought last chapter was long for me...and this turned out longer o_o;**

**Thank you people who have reviewed!!! It makes me so happy ^-^**

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"So I asked you a question, what are you doing out here?" The man took a step forward. Gaara seeing this, took a step back. Looking around he saw that another person had got out of the other vehicle behind them. He growled and turned so that he could see both figures at once, pulling naruto behind him as he did. In front of him was the laboratory, so no running that way. He looked behind him at the open area, judging whether they could make a run for it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Gaara turned to the man as he spoke. The man sighed. "I'd rather not have to shoot you." The guy lent on the bonnet of the vehicle, as he did so another man got out of the other side and walked slightly forward, just staying out the light. He lit a cigarette and stayed back waiting. The guy that was talking carried on. "You're not on a date are you?" From his voice, you could tell he was amused. "You know. Going into the scary abandoned animal testing centre, to show how tough you are to your friend behind you."

A sigh sounded behind him and the other man walked into the light hitting him over the head. "Not everyone's gay like you Kakashi. They're more likely on a dare." A whine came from Kakashi. "Ow that hurt, Asuma!" He crossed his arms and sat on the bonnet.

Gaara relaxed slightly, the man called Asuma had been visible and he didn't recognise him. This meant they didn't have anything to do with the laboratory. But that didn't mean they were out of trouble.

"Umm, excuse me." Naruto pulled out from behind Gaara. The men in front of them stopped talking. "What do you mean abandoned animal testing centre?" The men glanced at each other. Kakashi moved forward so that he was standing. "We mean the building over there that you two broke into." He pointed at the laboratory, where the lights were still on, searching for them. "It hasn't been used in years, not since the mass break out 5 years ago."

It was Naruto and Gaara's turn to look at each other. Gaara turned back to Kakashi. "But we didn't break in, we broke _out_." Kakashi stood up straight, suddenly very alert. Asuma sighed, "Great, now you've fuelled his conspiracy theories again..." He turned to Kakashi. "We don't have time for this now, let's just take them back to the station and you can interrogate them there." Kakashi opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it. "Fine..." He grumbled. He turned back to the boys. "Come on then, in you get." He opened the back door of the vehicle. "I'd rather not have to handcuff you, so let's do this the easy way."

Gaara glanced at Naruto asking him what they should do. Naruto shrugged. Both knew it was best for now to go with them, that or being shot anyway. Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand again as they walked towards the vehicle. Naruto looked up at Kakashi holding the door. "What is this thing anyway?" He asked, kicking it with his foot.

Kakashi growled. "It's my car, idiot. And I'd rather you didn't scratch it up." He slammed the door behind them both and got into the car, Asuma getting in the other side.

They drove in silence most of the way, the only sound being the tyres along the road. Gaara looked out of the back window, watching the laboratory become a speck of light behind them. He saw that the car followed the road all the time. He turned to Naruto, who was also looking out the window. "I think we found the purpose for the strip of ground." Naruto looked down at the road. "Oh, I get it!" They slipped back into the seats, still holding hands.

The two in front started muttering. "They're joking right?" "Yeah, now shut up and drive." Asuma flicked the end of the cigarette out the window. Kakashi looked at them in the mirror and frowned. "Hey, do you two have your seatbelts on." Naruto tilted his head to one side. "Seatbelts?"

Asuma turned around with an incredulous look on his face. "You know _seatbelts_? In case we crash?" Gaara looked at him indifferently. "Is that likely to happen?"

With a puzzled look Asuma replied. "Well, ahh, no not really." Naruto laughed. "Then we don't have to put them on then." He looked out of the window, excited at the new experiences he was having.

Asuma's facial expression hardened "OK, time for the joke to end now. You have to wear the seatbelts even if you don't want to. It's against regulations to not wear them." Gaara looked at the seat behind him, pulling out the belt. "Is this it?" Asuma nodded. Naruto pulled his out too. "How is this a belt? It's vertical."

Asuma clicked his seatbelt off and demonstrated. "You pull it down and attach it to the clips in the middle." The boys copied him. Asuma shook his head. "That's right! Geez, where have you guys been, not to have heard of a seatbelt?"

Gaara and Naruto pondered for a second before replying at the same time. "A cell." The men in front glanced at each other and again started muttering. "You still think they're joking?" "As I said before, shut up and drive."

Arriving at the station, the men took Gaara and Naruto inside and through to the office. As they walked in, they were led past the cells there. Naruto tightened his hold around Gaara's hand. Gaara knew how he felt, they were both wondering if they'd escaped from one cell to enter another. Gaara squeezed Naruto's hand back, in encouragement. Even if they did go back in cells Gaara wasn't going to let them be separated again. That was if the people here could even get them into one of the cells. Because Gaara would fight before he lost his freedom again!

They entered the room at the end of the corridor. It was a very busy room, full of desks and people wandering around. Kakashi pulled them over to a desk in the corner and told them to wait for a second as he went on a hunt for chairs.

A man sitting at a desk across the room laughed. He shouted out to Asuma. "Oi Asuma! Your partner acting up again?" Asuma turned around, his face showing exasperation. "Yeah as usual."

Kakashi came back with chairs and set them down before sitting on the other side of the desk. Asuma rolled his eyes and sat down at his own desk. "There's no point to this, Kakashi." Kakashi waved his hand to silence him. Asuma tutted and turned to some paperwork he still needed to finish.

Kakashi looked at the two boys sternly. "So, tell me the truth. What were you doing there?" Gaara stayed silent, just staring indifferently as if he didn't care what happened. Naruto tilted his head to one side again. "We live there. Or lived there anyway." He looked at Gaara worried. "You won't make us go back there will you?"

Kakashi stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, no, no. We won't make you go back." He sat forward, leaning his elbows against the desk, his hands under his chin. "I'm sorry; it's hard to believe that you've been living there. It's an abandoned animal research centre, so why there? And for how long?"

Gaara sighed, what he was saying was starting to get on his nerves. "There are no animals there and there never were. The cells there are occupied by people. Just like here." He looked around, bored. "Are you putting us in the cells here?"

Kakashi looked at him confused by his indifference. "No, the cells here are for criminals. Your offence wasn't big enough for going into a cell." He stood up and walked over to a filing cabinet, picking out paperwork. Asuma sighed from his desk. "Kakashi..." "Shush, Asuma. I know I'm right!" Asuma continued work, ignoring him.

A loud shout sounded through the room. Naruto turned to see what was happening. An older man walked into the room. "Yeah, shut up you lot! And get back to work!" He looked over the desks checking peoples work before his eyes caught sight of Kakashi and the two boys. He walked over. "So, what have they done?" He stopped for a second. "Asuma. How many times?" Naruto peeked around the man and looked as Asuma put the packet of cigarettes away, grumbling. The man put his hand on Naruto's shoulder making Naruto look at him. Gaara glared at the hand as if he could burn it off by looking. The man looked down at him and grinned before turning back to Kakashi."So?"

Kakashi sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "Just a minor charge, sir. They went into the abandoned research centre." The man looked at him sternly. "So? Give them a caution and let them off." He stood up and turned away. Kakashi came out from behind his desk. "But sir, Jiraiya, what they're saying...I'm sure they're telling the truth. And you know what I think about that old place."

Jiraiya sighed. "Please Kakashi, not this again." Naruto looked over at him. "Umm...can I interrupt?" Jiraiya looked at him and nodded. "That place isn't abandoned. Sorry, you're confusing me saying that." Jiraiya stared at him. "What there were other people there?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah and the laboratory is still running."

Kakashi looked smug. "See, told you." Jiraiya looked at him in a way that wiped the smile off of his face. He sighed. "It's just their word Kakashi. We searched that place all the way through and found nothing. You know that." Kakashi growled and threw the paperwork onto his desk. He pulled out various pages and spread them out. "But that's the thing! _Nothing _was found. No animal hair, or anything to say that animals were ever there. And actually not everywhere was searched. There was a building that we were told was a 'storage' room and that nothing was in there." He pointed at a particular page.

Jiraiya put his hand over his eyes, trying not to get stressed. "That doesn't matter. The case was closed." He pointed to the cover of the paperwork. "Meaning that the officer in charge decided that the case was solved and there was nothing else needed. There was a mass breakout of animals. Some of the scientists were killed. There were no security breaches. A person on the inside had decided to set them free. But there were no witnesses left to confirm this. So as the person can't be found and his involvement can't be proven, the charge was dropped. The end, that's it." He moved his arms in a cutting movement. Kakashi tried to speak but Jiraiya cut him off. "No, I said that's it."

Kakashi quickly shot in before Jiraiya could stop him. "Sir, can you just check who was in charge of the case? So that I can find out why it was shut down so quickly." Jiraiya sighed and turned to the desk beside Kakashi's. "Asuma, could you?" Asuma sighed and grumbled, pulling open his laptop as he did so. "Why do I have to get involved?" Jiraiya grinned. "Because you're his partner." Asuma tapped the keyboard, clicking through various pages. "Yeah, well I didn't ask to be the partner of this f-" He stopped and looked at the screen intently. "Shit..."

Jiraiya stopped smiling. "What Asuma? What have you found?" Asuma looked at him, visibly paler. "It was Officer Orochimaru who called off the case." Jiraiya slammed his fist against the desk. "Damn it! Kakashi I give you full rein. This case has now officially been reopened." He stormed off through the desks and entered a private office at the end.

The room was silent now, everyone staring at Kakashi. A whisper echoed through the room. "You mean he was actually on to something?" A cheer went up as the other people realised Kakashi wasn't crazy. "We need to celebrate!" Another one called. Another replied. "Just another excuse to get drunk, eh?" They all laughed.

Kakashi sat back down, Asuma looking incredulously at him. "You mean they didn't put me with the nut job?" Kakashi looked at him, grinning. "Nope, they didn't."

Gaara stared at him. "Oi." Kakashi turned to him. "Why do they suddenly believe you? And us for that matter. Because of this Orochimaru person?" Kakashi shook his head. "Orochimaru was an officer here. It took years but it was finally found out that actually he was a murderer hiding behind police uniform." He stretched back, tilting the chair on to two legs. "He was Jiraiya's friend from when they were kids. He never suspected a thing. None of us did until he killed the boss." He pulled forwards, the chair going back with a thud. "Meaning that if he closed this case so quickly, he had an involvement in it or was paid off to be quiet. Meaning something else happened there that people don't want known."

Asuma turned to him with a frown on his face. "Did you know Orochimaru had been in charge?" Kakashi shook his head. "No, really, I didn't. I hoped it was someone in the force still I could talk to. So that I could find out what had happened. But to be honest this is better." Asuma shook his head. "This is too much. I need a fag." With that he stood up and walked outside. Kakashi turned back to the kids before him. "Now I'd like you guys to tell me everything you know."

* * *

After the interrogation Gaara and Naruto were taken to a hotel room by Kakashi. "Sorry about this, it's only temporary. Hopefully we'll find your parents soon and then you can go home." Naruto squealed and jumped on one of the beds. "Wahh~ it's so soft." He curled up. Gaara turned to Kakashi. "You don't have to be sorry, this is much better than we've had. But what's going to happen now? At the laboratory I mean."

Kakashi pulled out a piece of paper. "I've been given a warrant to search the place. If what you've told us is true, we'll free the rest of the children and look for their parents as well." He frowned for a minute, thinking. "Actually if we find anyone there, it helps your theory. There shouldn't be anyone there, which makes me wonder why the lights and alarms are still fully operational..." He walked off muttering to himself as he went. Gaara closed the door and sat on the other bed.

"Hey Gaara. I like this. Being able to move around and not worry about getting hit for doing something wrong." Naruto peeked at Gaara from under his duvet. Gaara gave a small smile. "It's called freedom." He got back up and turned the lights off before heading to bed himself.

"Night, Naruto."

"Night."

* * *

A ringing sound jolted Gaara out of bed, thinking that it had all been a dream and that was the bell to wake them up. He looked round blearily and saw that they were still in the hotel room. He sighed relieved. He picked up the instrument making all the noise. Kakashi had given it to them the day before and told him how to use it, in case they needed anything.

"Gaara, what's all the noise? Naruto sat up slowly and put his hand to his face, trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. Gaara quickly flicked the phone open and pressed the button Kakashi had showed him.

"Hello?" He asked slowly.

"It's me, Kakashi. I thought you'd like to know that the raid was successful and we have all the children in other rooms in the hotel." Gaara sat up suddenly awake. "Really? So what happens now?"

A sigh echoed down the phone. "Now, we try and find your families to tell them you've been found. It's not going to be easy though. None of you know your last names and the files were deleted before we got there. So now we have to cross reference your first names and ages with missing person files to try and find matches. It's going to take awhile and so we got something else to talk about for now."

"What's that?" Gaara looked over at Naruto as he stretched and fell out of bed. Gaara shook his head. Naruto, now awake came over and started poking him. "Gaara, what's going on?" He shushed him with a wave of his hand as he waited for Kakashi's reply.

"It's time you two got ready for school. We can't have you sitting around doing nothing now can we?"


	4. A tie?

**A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to post this .; *bows repeatedly* please forgive me. There's been so much going on and I wrote another fic only to find out fanfiction. net didn't host it e_e so now I have a livejournal account where I will also post stories. I'll put a link in my profile if anyone wants to have a look~! Oh, and this and the next chapter I'm writing were meant to be one chapter but it got waaaaay to long so I had to cut it in half, but that means the next chapter will be posted in the next week or so.**

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Gaara pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, frowning, perplexed. He put the phone back to his ear. "School?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming round now and a friend will be meeting us at the hotel to get everything sorted and give you your uniforms. I've got to go now, just getting in the car." He hung up without waiting for a reply.

Gaara hung up too and put the phone down on the table between the beds before flopping back down again.

Naruto had been waiting for the call to end and had sat down next to Gaara on Gaara's bed. He poked Gaara one more time in the stomach. "So? What was that all about?"

Gaara turned his head to Naruto, still frowning slightly. "Apparently we're going to school. Whatever that is..." He stared up at the ceiling, wondering what Kakashi could have been on about. "Oh, and don't poke me. It's annoying."

A foxy grin slipped on to Naruto's face. "Oh really?" He then commenced to continuously poke Gaara on either side of his stomach. "You know how I like annoying people." His grin became wider.

A growl emitted from Gaara's mouth as Naruto continued to make a nuisance of himself. He pulled himself up and grabbed Naruto's arms pulling him down to a lying position. He straddled Naruto's waist. "My turn?" He smirked softly and poked Naruto's chest. He began poking Naruto and heard a squawk from under him. "So you're ticklish, are you?" He stopped poking and began tickling Naruto.

Naruto writhed and struggled under Gaara. "N-n-no fair Gaara...Get...off." It took a conscious effort for Naruto to stop laughing and choke out those words. He finally found the strength to push Gaara off him and sat up, panting. "So, anyway, what do we have to do to go to 'school'?"

Gaara sat up as well, having been pushed on to his side when Naruto got up. "Just wait here for Kakashi. He said he was bringing someone who would sort it all out." A knock on the door made them both turn to it. "Speak of the..." Gaara muttered as he stood up and went to the door. He paused as he heard voices outside.

"Well, look who it is. Just the cute guy I wanted to see." Gaara could almost see Kakashi's grin through the door, by the way he said that.

"Very funny Kakashi. So what's all this about? I've got to be at school in an hour and you know that." Gaara didn't recognise the voice, but it sounded angry.

"I told you what this was all about, you even brought the uniforms-" Kakashi's voice was cut off by the other man's.

"Yes, you told me. And as you might have guessed I don't believe you." The man sighed. "I mean, how do you expect me to believe the cock and bull story you gave me? How do I know that this isn't another one of your tricks?"

Gaara couldn't take listening at the door anymore and opened it, coughing slightly as he did to get their attention. The man he didn't know jumped and turned around as if shocked to see anyone there. He went pink, embarrassed. "Umm, he was telling the truth?" Gaara nodded and looked at Kakashi, seeing a faint smirk on his face. Gaara opened the door wider and gestured for them to come in.

Naruto stood up as he watched the men enter. "Uhh, Hey?" He smiled uncertainly at the man. "I'm Naruto and that's Gaara." He pointed at Gaara, who was still holding the door. "Who are you?" He asked rather bluntly.

The man smiled at him. "I'm Iruka Umino. I'm a teacher at the school you'll be going to." He deposited two bundles onto the bed beside Naruto. "These are your new school uniforms."

Gaara closed the door with a click and walked swiftly to the bed as Naruto backed away from Iruka. Gaara sat in front of Naruto as Iruka looked perplexed. "What kind of teaching?" Gaara glared at Kakashi. "Is that what school is? A place like where we just came from?"

Iruka frowned perplexed and shot a look at Kakashi, who looked just as confused. It then clicked to Kakashi what they meant. "Ahh, I see. No, it's nothing like where you were. You don't have to worry about being hurt if you get anything wrong." He turned to Iruka. "These two have had a lot of troubles in the past and have never been to a mainstream school. This may be a lot of hard work getting them to fit in and understand how it all works."

The frown left Iruka's face to be replaced with a more concerned and pitying look. "Oh, no problem." He turned back to the boys with a sympathetic smile on his face. "You don't have anything to worry about. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Gaara and Naruto looked at each other and stepped closer again, feeling less worried. Naruto spoke up. "What is a school exactly?"

Iruka answered the question, without asking questions back, which was quite a struggle for him. "A school is where children learn subjects which can then be used in later life when they decide to get jobs. Subjects like Maths, Science, English, etc." He smiled at them. "Anything else?"

Gaara stood for a moment thinking, before answering. "If Kakashi's right and we don't get hurt for being wrong, how do we get punished? And you said children, how many people are at this school?"

"You don't get punished for being wrong." Iruka had to consciously keep his smile from slipping, wondering what kind of things these kids had gone through. He'd got a garbled version from Kakashi, but not any details. "Being wrong isn't bad, people learn from their mistakes. You will be punished if you do something bad, but I'm sure you two wouldn't do that would you?" He waited for a nod from both of them before continuing. "And to your other question, there are about four hundred pupils at the school." He laughed at the shocked faces on the two boys. "Anyway it's almost time for school to start, so could you go get changed? And then I'll take you to the school and around it so that you won't get lost." Iruka stood up and both he and Kakashi left the room so that they could get changed.

Naruto picked up the school uniform and held it up in front of him. "What do you think Gaara? Do you think this is all going to be OK? Like we'll fit in? We're not exactly normal are we?" He frowned and started changing. "I really don't know what to expect." His voice sounded muffled as he'd been taking his top off at the time.

Gaara also started changing. "I don't know either; I guess we'll just have to take our chances. And I guess we can always make a run for it again if it doesn't work out. But I kind of trust Kakashi, I can't imagine him sending us somewhere bad." He picked up part of the uniform. "What do you think this is?"

"I was wondering that." Naruto also had picked it up and was frowning at it. It was a long thin piece on material that got wider at one end, which ended at a point. Both boys looked at it trying to figure it out. "A belt maybe?"

Gaara shrugged and threw it back on the bed. "Whatever, I can't be bothered with it anyway." He watched Naruto tie his around his trousers. "Shall we get going then?"

Naruto nodded and they both walked towards the door. Naruto opened it, grinning. "We're ready! Shall we go?"

Iruka frowned at the uniforms. Both looked scruffy, with their shirts untucked and top buttons undone. Gaara also just had the jacket slung over his shoulder. But there was something even more off. "Wait a second. Where are your ties?"

Naruto tilted his head to one side. "Ties?"

Iruka took his jacket off and showed them his tie. "It looks like this but is a different colour."

Naruto laughed. "Oh, that! I thought it was a belt." He took it off from around his waist and looked at it and then at Iruka's. "How did you make it do that?"

Gaara went back into the room and grabbed his off the bed before returning and closing the door behind them. As he came back he saw Iruka doing up Naruto's top button and explaining how to do up a tie.

When Iruka was finished he turned to Gaara, not noticing that behind him Naruto was loosening the tie making himself look scruffy again. "Do you want me to show you as well or did you hear what I said to Naruto?"

Gaara stood looking at him with his usual emotionless look. "I heard what you said to Naruto, but I'm not putting this on. I don't like things around my neck." He gave it back to Iruka and walked forward to Kakashi. "Are we leaving?"

Kakashi laughed at the look on Iruka's face. "I wouldn't try and make him, he won't listen." He turned to Gaara. "Yeah, we're going." He walked off towards the door before stopping and turning again. "Oh yeah, and please remember your seat belts this time."

* * *

"Alright, alright already! Will you please stop it already?" An irate Kakashi stepped out of his car, having spent the whole trip listening to Iruka try and persuade Gaara to wear his tie and Gaara outright refusing.

"But Kakash-" Iruka started before being interrupted.

"No 'buts'!" Kakashi sighed. "If you haven't got him to wear it yet, can't you realise you're not going to?" He came closer to Iruka and muttered to him. "How about leaving it until he sees everyone else wearing them? Maybe then when he's being stared at he'll feel more like wearing it."

Iruka thought for a second and nodded, before jumping as he felt someone behind him.

Naruto had got out of the car and was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Oi, oi, what you talking about?" He grinned at them. Gaara just waited with his hands in his pockets and stared at the school building in front of them.

Kakashi laughed. "Not much, nosey." He looked at his watch and sighed. "Well, I'd better get back to the station before Jiraiya grills me for being late. I'll come see you at the end of the day to see how you've got on." With that he walked back to his car and left them to it.

Iruka also looked at the time. "OK, we don't have as much time as I thought we would so the tour is going to have to wait. Maybe we can get some of the other students to show you round. For now let's just go see the head teacher and sort all your timetables and everything out." He smiled at them both. "How does that sound?"

Naruto looked up at Iruka, confused. "Head teacher?" From the look on his face you could imagine the weird images that were going through his head.

Iruka nodded. "Yes, we'll be going to see her, she runs the school."

"Oh, I see." Naruto's mind instead started thinking about the people who had run the laboratory, even though they hadn't seen them in years.

Iruka led them into the school and through the corridors, until they came to the head teacher's office. As they approached they heard a thud echo from within the room and a raised voice speaking.

"What the hell are you playing at Jiraiya?! You couldn't have told me this a little bit sooner? And maybe in person instead of across the phone?" The person stopped for a second, listening to someone speak before continuing. "...Alright, fine. I'll do it but you owe me big time, you hear!" Another thud was heard, this time sounding like plastic hitting plastic as whoever it was slammed a phone down.

Iruka laughed nervously, trying to get the happy atmosphere back from Naruto. Gaara's expression hadn't changed much and he was actually looking more interested than he had a few minutes ago. Iruka knocked on the door and got a growl from the other side, which he took as an invitation to enter. "Hey, Tsunade. I brought the new students here."

The woman who had been facing out of the window, turned around quickly. "Ahh, thanks Iruka." It seemed she was trying to keep her voice level and not start shouting. She straightened her top and sat back down behind her desk. Gaara and Naruto stepped closer to the desk so that they were standing in front of her. "Welcome to our school. I am Tsunade, the head teacher here. If you have to talk to me you will call me 'Miss', OK?"

"Yes miss." The reply mostly came from Naruto until he elbowed Gaara to join in.

Tsunade stared at them. "Good. I'm glad you understand." She frowned and leaned closer to the two of them. "Iruka? Where's his tie?" She nodded towards Gaara.

Before Iruka could answer, Gaara did. "Please don't talk about me like I'm not here." He glared at Tsunade, who sat back in her chair, stunned. "I don't like things around my neck so I'm not wearing it."

Naruto laughed slightly, trying to break the atmosphere. "Umm, we've...umm, not exactly had good experiences with things like this, so-"

He was stopped by Tsunade raising her hand. "Fine, I get it. I just got off the phone with the police so I know. Alright, I'll let you off about the tie, but I don't want any trouble with you guys, you hear? No getting into fights or anything, OK?" She waited for them to nod before continuing. "Right, now we have that sorted, how about we get back to how you're going to fit in here. So what are your names anyway?"

Naruto grinned. "I'm Naruto and this is-"

He was once again stopped by Tsunade raising her hand. "Let him tell me himself." She stared at Gaara. "Go on, what's your name, kid?"

Gaara stared at her indifferently. "Gaara." He then looked away and went back to staring out of the window.

Tsunade sighed realising how hard this was going to be. "Iruka, will you be their tutor?"

Iruka nodded, smiling, having hoped she would say this. "I think that will be a good idea, they'll probably get on with my group well."

"Good. Now all we have to think about is the timetable and what to tell the other teachers. We'll have to tell them something so that they won't get suspicious." She frowned, thinking. "I'll think of something, maybe abusive parents? Kept them locked up inside? And we can just tell the other students that they've had a tough time and to be nice to them, like we normally do. How does that sound?"

Gaara stopped staring out of the window and turned back to her. "I have a question. Why do you know about everything that's happened to us?"

Tsunade grinned mischievously. "That would be because I am best friends with someone high up in the police. And when you're very friendly with someone, you know when they're lying and it's easy to persuade them to tell you the truth." He turned back to Iruka. "Anyway, as I only found out this morning, I haven't had chance to make them timetables, so who in your class would be a good guide for now until we know what their levels are in the subjects?"

Iruka thought for a moment. "Probably Kiba, I can imagine him getting on well with these two, most people get on with him. And he wouldn't mind showing them around."

Tsunade nodded and stood up going over to the filing cabinets. She opened up one of the drawers and flicked through, before pulling out a folder with 'Inuzuka Kiba' written on the side. She leafed through it before pulling out a sheet. She then proceeded to a photocopier in the corner and printed two extra sheets. Coming back she gave the pieces of paper to Naruto and Gaara and slipped the original back into the folder. "There, those are you're timetables for now, until we know your ability in lessons."

Naruto stared from her to the photocopier in the corner. "How did you do that?"

Before Tsunade could reply with another question, Iruka interrupted. "I think it's time we got you two to lessons, don't you think, Tsunade?" Tsunade stared as Iruka ushered the two boys out of the office, wondering if this was really going to work out.


	5. Fitting in

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A/N: =_= OK, if I ever give myself a deadline again, hit me or something. Why is it when you tell yourself you have to do something, even if you like doing it, it suddenly seems a drag XD o yeah and even though I cut chapter in half this chapter still turned out reeeeeeally long o_o;; hope you guys like long chapters . I just had to much fun XD.

**Oh yeah, and thank you for all the reviews, favouriting and story alerts!!! It makes me feel so proud =^-^=**

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Naruto and Gaara waited outside Iruka's classroom as Iruka spoke to the class. It was meant to be a warning to the class that they weren't supposed to hear but they could hear every word.

"Alright class, we have two new students in our class now. They've had a rough time up until now so I hope you'll be welcoming to them."

There was a lot of muttering in the room but it was clear that they were finding it interesting and that they would be nice, so Iruka continued.

"Kiba, for now they have the same timetable as you because you seem to get on with everyone. Do you mind showing them around?"

There was a laugh from the middle of the room. "Sure, sir. Whatever."

"Good, I'll bring them in then." There were footsteps towards the door, before it opened in front of them. Iruka smiled down at them. Naruto looked nervous and Gaara looking the same as always. "Come on, it's nothing to worry about."

Naruto walked in first with Gaara trailing behind and stood in front of the class. The class started muttering again and staring.

"Come on you guys, you're being mean." Iruka said as he closed the door, causing the class to become silent. "Go on, introduce yourselves." He smiled at the two understandingly.

Naruto put his trademark grin on. "I'm Naruto. It's good to meet you."

The boys in the class laughed as the girls giggled and whispered about how cute he was.

Naruto turned to see Gaara still standing behind him staring off into space. "Oi, Come here and introduce yourself." He pulled Gaara forward, bringing more laughter out of the class.

Gaara glared forward. "I'm Gaara."

The class went silent, the laughter dying in their throats. It was hard to keep laughing with Gaara glaring at them, most wondered if he was going to be a hard one to handle.

Iruka sensing the mood change, laughed. "Right, there we are then. If Naruto you could sit there at the front and Gaara behind him." He pointed out the seats and they took their places. "Kiba, can you introduce yourself?"

A guy in the second row a few seats away from Gaara raised his hand. "Yo."

Iruka sighed. "Is that it?" When he didn't get an answer he carried on. "Fine, Naruto, Gaara if you need any help with getting to your lessons Kiba will be able to help you. Luckily enough your first lesson is with me so you won't have to go anywhere." He went to his desk and grabbed the register off of his desk. After adding Gaara and Naruto's names to the bottom, he started calling out the names.

Naruto stared at each person as their names were read out trying to remember them all so that he could get to know the people properly later on. He was so excited, having this many people here to him meant making a lot more friends. He grinned to himself.

A bell rang causing Gaara and Naruto to jump and spin around, wondering what was going on. The rest of the class stared at them and they both realised it was normal and settled down, pretending nothing had happened.

Naruto heard a tut behind him and turned to see a raven haired boy in the back row glaring at him. Naruto tilted his head not understanding how the boy was acting. The boy, seeing Naruto had noticed, quickly looked away.

"Don't you think the blond ones cute?" Gaara looked to the side to see two whispering girls staring at Naruto, one blonde and one with dyed pink hair. He glared at the two of them, feeling suddenly protective of Naruto. He was worried that with all these people here, that Naruto might not want him as a friend anymore. He frowned, when had his attitude changed? Before he hadn't even cared if Naruto liked him. He shook his head absently. Gaara jumped slightly, so lost in his thoughts, when some books were put on his table.

Naruto whispered to Gaara. "We have to pass these back, but keep one for yourself." He then turned back to the front, eyes fixed on Iruka, not wanting to get into trouble on his first day for not paying attention.

Iruka, standing in front of the class, also had a book in his hand. "Alright guys, let's get cracking then. We've got a few more poems to get through before the end of the-"He was interrupted by groans from the class, to which he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "What are you moaning about? You normally get into the poems and start debating about them. I thought you liked this unit."

The blonde girl that Gaara had seen whispering spoke up. "Well, we probably would but none of us know the right answer to what the poems are about and it's really frustrating."

Iruka frowned. "But Ino, that's the point of poems, so that each individual can look at the poem and see how they interpret it. Anyway the more original you are with your answers, the more marks you'll get." Kiba's hand shot up. "Kiba, if you're going to say 'if that's so why didn't I get a good grade in the last test?' It would be because the points have to be relevant and not you trying to make everything related to dogs." The class laughed as Kiba's hand fell down and he started to sulk.

Naruto laughed along with them, liking the atmosphere of the class. It felt so good to be around people and be truly happy and the happiness not to be because of some prank he had pulled earlier. He once again looked around at Gaara to see if he was smiling but found him with the same expressionless look on his face. Naruto turned back quickly, feeling a twinge of sadness. He hoped Gaara would get happier like he was here. He looked back to see Iruka arguing more with various members of the class.

"That's not the point, Shikamaru." Iruka pushed his hair back wondering how he was going to get the class to do their work. "The point is that you have to know this stuff for the exam otherwise you'll fail it. And another thing—oh great." While he was talking he'd decided to lean back against his desk, causing a pile of papers on it to fall off.

The people in the front row started to help pick up the papers while the others in the class laughed. Naruto grabbed a piece that had fluttered underneath his table. He read it as the others in the class started to talk to Iruka.

The pink haired girl spoke up, still giggling. "What is all that paperwork anyway, sir?"

Iruka coughed, his face going pink. "That's none of your concern, Sakura." He went about collecting the pieces from the people who had helped pick them up. "Thanks."

Kiba swiped one of the pages from the guy in front of him before Iruka could take them. He was able to read some of it before it was taken from him by Iruka who was steadily going redder. "Hey! These are poems. Is that it?" Kiba frowned for a second, wondering what the big deal was before it clicked. "Sir, did you write these?"

Iruka coughed again, before turning around as if he hadn't heard Kiba. He went back to the front of the class, still not noticing that Naruto still had one of the pages.

Ino giggled. "Come on sir! You can't do this to us now! We want to hear one!" This was mimicked by others in the class, causing Iruka to sigh.

"Do I have to?" Iruka grumbled, realising he had no choice now. He flicked through the papers, still muttering. "They aren't any good anyway." He frowned slightly. "Which one to show you guys...?"

Naruto looked up at Iruka and raised the page he held up. "This one."

Iruka stared for a second, blinking. "Ehh? Since when—" He shook his head and took the sheet from Naruto and smiled slightly. "Ahh, this is one of my favourites anyway." He looked up at the class. "But just in case, do I really have to do this?" When all he got was a few nods and the silently expectant faces he sighed and started to read.

"_If I were to close my eyes for the last time,_

_Would you be there to hold my hand? _

_And guide me into the night?_

_For if you could show me this final act of kindness_

_I would gladly walk into the dark,_

_And wait for you wherever I end up."_

Iruka looked up at the silent class and smiled nervously. "Come on guys, don't leave me hanging here. You could at least tell me what you think."

Ino flopped forward onto her desk. "Sir, why the hell did you write such a sad poem?" She frowned up at him. "You're not depressed, are you? We're not that bad a class, are we?"

Iruka pouted. "Ino, it's nothing like that! It's not even meant to be that sad." He looked down at the poem frowning, wondering where the message he'd been trying to convey went. A hand near the back of the class rose shakily, catching Iruka's eye. He smiled. "Hinata? What do you think?"

The girl's hand slipped back down and she started to twiddle her thumbs. She blushed slightly as everyone turned to her expectantly. "I-I-I think it's romantic." She hid her face, worried about their reactions.

Iruka beamed. "Exactly! That's what I was trying to get across. It's not about death; it's about how love can overcome anything." He blushed as he said it realising how cheesy that sounded. He laughed slightly, embarrassed. He looked over at the two new students, wondering how they were getting on. Naruto just sat there grinning, liking the interactions between the people in the class. His eyes paused on Gaara, who was staring out the window, looking indifferent. Iruka's smile slipped slightly before he forcibly replaced it. "Gaara, what do you think?"

The class went quiet as Gaara shifted his gaze to Iruka. "What do I think?" He pulled himself up slightly and crossed his arms.

Iruka tried to keep smiling, finding it hard to keep eye contact with Gaara. "What do you think about the poem? What catches your eye in it?"

Gaara seemed like he wasn't going to answer, but was actually thinking the poem through. "You talk about death but you never actually say it."

Iruka, relieved that Gaara was participating tried to keep it up. "And? What do you think that suggests?"

Gaara stared some more at Iruka, as if measuring him up. "You're scared of death."

Most of the pupils in the class laughed. "Aren't most people?" Sakura managed to say through the giggles, staring slightly worriedly at Gaara.

Naruto looked disbelievingly at Gaara, Gaara's eyes only flickering to him for a moment. "What's scary about death?" Gaara slumped back down into his chair and faced forward. "Death is only weakness. If you die, you deserve to."

The class turned silent, the ones sitting nearest to Gaara shuffled their chairs back slightly. Kiba laughed trying to destroy the heavy atmosphere. "Well, that's a different point of view, probably better than worrying about death." He grinned around and turned to Naruto. "What about you then? You two are friends, right? What do you think about death?"

Naruto tilted his head to one side, frowning. "Isn't death a release?" He pondered for a second longer, on how to say it. "Like, it's not a punishment but...uhh..." He tried to think of the word he was looking for and smiled when he thought of it. "It's peaceful."

The rest of the class stayed silent but it was not as heavy an atmosphere as before, sympathy was felt for both boys as the class realised that Gaara had hidden himself in a shell because of what had happened to them whereas Naruto was striving to go forward. The question in all the pupils' heads though was 'what had happened to them to make them think like this?'

Iruka coughed wondering what to do and how the class had turned out this way. He smiled slightly as he watched the members of the class eased back their seats to their normal positions, even if Gaara only took a small glance and had that indifferent look on his face. He was saved from having to talk as the bell rang for the next lesson; he sighed quietly to himself in relief and then laughed at the class. "Looks like you lot got out of doing the proper lesson I had planned for today." He fake glared at the class as they laughed happily, some of the boy's high fiving. "Alright, alright you lot. Kiba, I expect you to help Naruto and Gaara settle in, OK?"

Kiba nodded slightly to Iruka and slung his bag over his shoulder. He walked over to the two boys, a smile plastered to his face. "Hey, so you two have the same timetable as me, right? You want me to show you around?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Yeah, please."

Gaara just grabbed his stuff and followed Naruto as they walked out of the classroom. He glared slightly at Kiba's back as he and Naruto started talking as they walked. They entered a classroom down the corridor and sat down in the back row.

* * *

The room started to fill up, the students sitting wherever they wanted as if they didn't care what the teacher thought. When the room was full the teacher stood up from his desk and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Good morning class. I see we have some new students in the class. It's Gaara and Naruto right?" When he received a nod he continued. "I'm Ebisu, your maths teacher. Today you may get left behind" He sounded patronising as he spoke. "Though then again, not many of you will get the answer until I explain it because we're going to do some much harder questions today." He pushed his glasses up again, looking smug. "I designed these questions to trip you up." He looked around for a reaction that never came, obviously the class was used to the way he acted and chose to ignore him now. He started to write up the first question on the board.

Gaara watched him write, calculating the answer as he went along, out of the corner he could see Naruto doing the same.

Ebisu turned back to class as he finished. "Who wants to have a go at the answer, then?" When he received no answer, he looked to the back of the class. "How about one of you two? Would you like to have a go?"

Kiba growled slightly. "Come on sir, that's harsh! You just said they probably won't be able to do it!"

Ebisu looked at him. "I'm just giving them a chance, Inuzuka." He turned his gaze over the two boys. "How about you, Naruto?"

Gaara made the last calculation in his head and opened his mouth to say he'd do it but Naruto cut him off. "Yeah, I'll do it." Gaara looked at Naruto worried, knowing that Naruto always failed on all the intelligence tests they took.

"The answer's 5.65." Naruto sat back in his chair grinning widely. He saw the incredulous look on Ebisu's face and misinterpreted, the smile falling. "Did I get it wrong?"

Ebisu stuttered, unable to believe he had said the correct answer. "N-n-no, that is correct." He turned back to the board rubbing the question out rather more forcibly than needed.

Gaara turned to look at Naruto disbelievingly; Naruto caught him out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "What? You think I failed those tests before because I was thick? No, it was just more pranks." Gaara was about to reply when he realised Kiba was trying to subtly listen in and stopped himself. He frowned, wondering why Naruto got so bored in the laboratory. He hadn't seen it as boring or horrible, more just a way of life. It made him worry slightly and remember what the pupils had said earlier about death. Was he really that different in his way of thinking than everyone else? Even different from Naruto, it now seemed. He shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts and turned his attention back to the class.

"Right then, try this one." Ebisu turned back to the class, a new question on the board. He this time asked Gaara, who also got it right first time. This continued for another 20 minutes with the class ogling at how fast the two were answering. Ebisu sat there stunned. "That's all the work I had planned for this lesson. I didn't even think we'd get through the first five." He looked at the clock. "Fine, you can go early just this once, as all the work is done." He sniffed and started to pack his stuff up.

The class brightened and most stuffed everything in their bags and left as fast as they could. Kiba started to laugh. "I'm glad I've got you two in my maths class now! It was a pain before." He gave Naruto a playful slap on the back, Gaara glared at him.

As they were about to walk out of the door, Ebisu passed and looked at them, frowning. "If you don't mind, next time how about letting others in the class have a go." He stormed off before they could answer.

Gaara looked slightly perplexed at Ebisu's retreating back. "Didn't he ask us to answer?" He looked over at Naruto who was starting to panic that he'd done something wrong on his first day here.

Kiba grinned at them and gave Gaara, this time, a light slap, receiving a glare for touching him and quickly removed his hand. "Don't worry; he's just annoyed that you beat him. He hates to lose, the stuck up prick. He thinks he's perfect." He grinned at his watch. "And thanks to you guys, we now have half an hour longer than we should have for break, so how about I show you around some more?"

Naruto relaxed at Kiba's words and nodded, while Gaara just stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. They started to tour around the school, Kiba pointing various things out as they went that he found interesting and skipping anything he found boring. He led them down a corridor without talking about anything in it, but Gaara paused outside a set of double doors. "What's in here, then?"

Kiba turned and made a face when he saw what Gaara was looking at. "Oh, that's just the library. Nothing special." He was about to carry on when he saw Gaara open the doors and walk in. "Oh, come on! It's boring in there." He whined, as Naruto followed Gaara in. Kiba sighed and walked forward dragging his feet. He saw that Gaara and Naruto were just standing in the entrance, looking. "OK, we've seen it. Now can we go?"

Naruto looked over at Kiba, shocked. "They make you read all these books?" They had been made to read some in the laboratory, cover to cover, memorised. It had been a hard task and most of them had at least got it wrong at some point. To see all these books was a complete worry to the two boys.

Kiba frowned, confused. "Make us? Not really...sometimes they'll say it's a good idea to but none of us really listen." He pointed back outside. "Can we go now? I don't like it in here, it's too quiet." He looked over at the desk, worried he was going to get told off just for talking normally.

They snuck back out quietly and continued their search of the school, getting to know the layout quickly. They passed room after room until Kiba stopped outside another large pair of double doors. "And this is the best place in the school! The cafeteria! This is where we all hang out at lunchtimes." He frowned. "Actually, I haven't introduced you to everyone else in the gang...I'll have to do that at lunch." He looked at his watch. "We don't have long left before the start of the next class." He frowned. "Have I shown you everything of importance...?" It clicked suddenly in his head what he had forgotten. "Oh yeah, I forgot the toilets." He pointed to doors either side of the cafeteria's entrance. "Those are the boys and girls loos. There are some more at the other side of the school but I'll show you them when we're near them next."

"Oh, I'm gonna go before class starts then." Naruto grinned as he walked towards one of the sets of doors. But was stopped as Kiba grabbed him, a perplexed look on his face. Naruto frowned. "What?"

Gaara glared at Kiba's hand as if he could burn it. Seeing that Naruto was uncomfortable, he flicked Kiba's hand off of him.

Kiba stared from one of them to the other. "Sorry, but you were about to walk into the girls toilets." He pointed at the sign above the door.

Gaara frowned. "You have different toilets?" As there had been only nine children at any one time at the laboratory, there had only been one toilet installed for all of them.

Kiba pulled a disgusted face. "Where you came from, they didn't? That's just wrong!" He shivered and grabbed hold of Naruto's arm, dragging him over to the other door. "This ones the one you go in otherwise you might get hit by any girls that are in their toilets."

After Naruto was done, the bell once again went making the three of them rush off to their next lesson.

Kiba flicked through his timetable, having a bad memory. "OK, now we have...science. Oh, it's the lab lesson!" He grinned. Naruto stood still, frozen, his face draining of colour. Gaara grabbed his shoulder in a reassuring way and was about to say that it couldn't be anything like what they'd been in before, when Kiba carried on talking. "That means it's the practical lesson, where we get to make things...or break things, for me normally, anyway." Gaara felt Naruto relax under his hand and smiled softly at the action. He shook his head slightly, wondering how Naruto had that effect on him.

* * *

They got to the classroom and copying Kiba, put on a lab coat and special glasses. They went inside and sat down. Tsunade walked in carrying a lot of paperwork. She looked around the class and saw the two boys looking at her strangely. "What? You didn't think I stayed in that stuffy office all day did you? The paperwork in there is too boring." She threw the papers on the desk and grabbed a board pen, scribbling a load of instructions on the board.

Kiba grinned. "So you already met the head then? She's cool, she may seem a bit bossy at first but she used to be in charge of a hospital so she had to be able to order people around because lives were at risk." He frowned. "I don't know what happened, but she just suddenly quit. She had the qualifications to be a teacher so she came here and then progressed through until she became the head." He shrugged. "Or that's what I heard from a friend who left a few years ago."

"Alright you brats, settle down!" Tsunade looked up from her desk, where she'd sat down after finishing the instructions. "You know what to do, so get on with it. Gaara, Naruto, will you come here? I want to know how far you are in your science studies."

Naruto and Gaara walked to the desk and sat down in front of it. Tsunade proceeded to question them about what they had learned and quickly found out their strengths and weaknesses. She discovered that for Biology they knew a lot about the human body, mostly how easily it is to kill someone, a point which she ignored, but also that they knew almost nothing about plant life, other than poisonous plants, which she again chose to ignore. She found they had a good understanding of Chemistry but were easily confused by Physics, reminding her of the photocopier incident because of this she realised how much of a struggle this was going to be for the two boys.

The two boys left the class with a stack of papers she'd had printed off and the textbook for the year, asking them to have a look through when they could and to pay close attention to the Physics parts as they would help them understand other things outside the classroom as well.

Kiba winced in sympathy as they all slipped out of the coats and glasses. "Ouch, that's a lot of work."

Naruto smiled up at him. "Yeah, but she said look at it when we had chance, not we had to do it straight away. I like her, she's nice." He wondered if it was fine to make friends out of grown-ups as well. His smile grew wider as he realised if he could that meant Kakashi, Iruka and Tsunade were already on his list.

* * *

Gaara and Naruto headed out of changing rooms, having been given spare clothing for their next lesson. Kiba pulled them both out into the playground of the school. "Come on, you guys!" He grinned and dragged them along until they reached a group of boys standing around the basketball courts.

Gaara pulled his arm away when he had a chance, glaring at Kiba for touching him. Naruto grinned at the class around him, recognising a few faces from his other classes.

Kiba waved at a few of the boys, who walked over to them. One walked up to them and then flopped on the ground beside them. "P.E's troublesome...why do we have to do it again?"

Kiba grinned at him. "Because your too lazy and wouldn't do any physical activities if they didn't make you." He looked over at Naruto and Gaara. "Oh, yeah I haven't introduced you guys..." He looked back at the group that had assembled and pointed them out one by one. "The lazy one's Shikamaru, but we just called him Shika...that's Chouji, eating as always. How come you're never caught?" He shook his head and continued. "And this is Shino." He pointed at a boy with sunglasses and coat on over the top of the P.E uniform. "Yeah, he doesn't talk much but he's fun to be around."

Shino raised an eyebrow. "Kiba you have told them about this class right? You're not going to just send them in without warning are you?" He watched Kiba pale as he realised he'd forgotten. Shino sighed. "Idiot."

Gaara crossed his arms glaring at Kiba, while Naruto just looked at him worriedly. "What does he mean Ki-" He stopped unable to continue as someone picked him up from behind.

"Wow! I got told I had new students in my class! But look at you! You already have so many friends! I'm proud of you!!!" A large man dressed completely in green had Naruto in a hug tight enough to suffocate him. "I know! Let's all run laps in celebration of our new students." The other pupils looked at him as if he was stupid, except one in the back, who jumped up. "Yes Gai! Sir!!!" Another boy with long hair, that was sat next to him sighed and grabbed him pulling him back down. "Shut up Lee, you're annoying everyone."

Gaara realising Naruto's imminent danger of being suffocated grabbed hold of the teachers arms and pulled them open, eyes widening slightly as he found it difficult. Naruto fell to the ground coughing, Kiba and Shikamaru grabbing hold of his arms, pulled him out of harm's way. Gaara stood firm in front of the teacher to make sure it didn't happen again.

The teacher looked at him confused, before giving a brilliant, if not creepy grin. "Ahh, you are the other new student! Come here!" He opened his arms wide and took a step towards Gaara.

"Touch me and I'll break you." A glare from Gaara confirmed that he wasn't joking. The class went silent, unable to see his face, some started to giggle at a threat which to them seemed unrealistic.

The teacher kept smiling, unperturbed by the glare. "OK, I see. You are not the kind to like contact." He laughed loudly. "I'm Gai Maito, your P.E teacher. You can call me Gai." He winked at them, hand raised with thumb up. "How about we get on with the lesson then?" He grabbed a bag of balls which had been lying against the wire fence that surrounded the court and a box of coloured vests that had been next to it. "You know the drill. Two teams, then choose your colour, first to 10 wins." The students scrambled forward, some grabbing the same colour for their friends.

Kiba came back towards Gaara and Naruto who had stood back nonplussed as the students had dived forwards. Kiba grinned and threw a red vest to each of them. "Here, you'll need one of these. It's basketball time!" He threw one arm up in the air in happiness while Shikamaru groaned beside him, already sporting a red vest.

Naruto tilted his head to one side. "Basketball?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, you know throwing a ball into one of those hoops? We're aiming for the blue one by the way." He pointed at the hoops at either end of the court and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "This takes up way to much energy." He moaned.

"Alright everyone let's get on with it!!!" Gai grinned manically and took his place in the middle of the court with the basketball in hand. The students fell into their places, Kiba pulling Gaara and Naruto to make sure they stayed on the right side of the court before taking his place in the centre. Naruto noticed the guy opposite him was the black haired boy from their first class that had glared at him. Gai raised the ball above his head. "Alright, 3...2...1!" He threw the ball into the air, Kiba and the other boy jumped after it.

Kiba barely caught the ball before him. Wanting to make sure his new friends had a part in the game he spun to see them. "Naruto, heads up!" He made a quick pass to him.

Naruto jumped, snatching the ball out of the air. He stared at the blue hoop at the other end of the court and remembered what Shikamaru said. He quickly gauged the distance and threw the ball from where he was standing.

Kiba watched dismayed. "Naruto, you'll never make a shot from th-" He stopped as he watched the ball fly cleanly into the hoop. "Holy shit Naruto! I never thought you'd be able to do that!"

Naruto turned to Gaara worried. "Should I have done that?" He whispered.

Gaara shrugged at him as Kiba bounded over, grabbing Naruto round the neck. "You should have told us you were this good at playing basketball!"

Naruto laughed nervously. "I didn't know I was." He pulled himself out of Kiba's grasp. "Shouldn't we still be playing?"

Kiba pulled himself away, pouting slightly. "Fine, but maybe next time you should get closer to the hoop. It won't show how much we suck as much then." He laughed and clapped Naruto on the back.

Naruto shook him off laughing and watched him walk away. As he watched, his eyes strayed back over to the dark haired guy and found he was once again being glared at. He growled slightly, the guy starting to annoy him.

"Sir, can we get on with the game now?" The long-haired boy who was also on the other team, was trying to get the teachers attention away from the conversation he was having with the hyperactive Lee, who seemed ecstatic at how good the game was already. Gai finally realised and started laughing again. "Get back on the court Lee, you're sides losing at the moment." Lee gasped, dashing back to his place on the court. "OK, blue team starts now. Get going." The game resumed.

Naruto and Gaara watched for a second from their positions. Naruto turned to Gaara. "Your turn now?" He got a swift nod in return and a slight smile. It seemed Gaara was actually getting into the game.

Gaara slid into a slight stance. He looked at Kiba amidst the fray, grabbing his attention, to show that if Kiba got hold of the ball he was ready to go.

Kiba grinned, happy to see Gaara taking an active part in the game. He turned back to the fray and saw Shikamaru with the ball. "Oi, Shika! Over here!" Shikamaru passed the ball quickly. Kiba turned passing the ball to Gaara as he went. Kiba watched Gaara run forward to catch the ball. He blinked, and heard a cheer from his team, the ball thudding down to the concrete through the blue hoop. "What the-?" He growled, pretending to be annoyed and shouted. "Oi! I thought I told you guys not to throw from so far back..." He pausing, seeing Naruto but not Gaara. "Huh? Where is he?"

"I didn't throw from so far back." Gaara called to Kiba from the blue end of the court, the ball nestled in his arms. He walked over to the centre, where Kiba was and flicked the ball up in the air for him to catch. "Did I do something wrong?"

Kiba shook his head, stunned.

Gaara frowned at him and stuffing his hands into his pockets carried on walking until he got to Naruto. "I think we're doing something wrong here." He got a nod in reply as Naruto watched the other students staring and muttering.

"Maybe we should watch them play for a bit."

* * *

The boys flopped against the fencing after the match, thoroughly puffed out except for Naruto and Gaara.

"5 minute break and then let's have another match!!!" Gai grinned at them before going off to talk to some other students.

Shikamaru groaned. "Can't we stop now? We actually won a match for once. That's a miracle for us."

Kiba hit him round the head. "No it's not! We're just as good as them." He pouted slightly before grinning again. "But I will say it is due to our new guys here." He gave Naruto a tap on the shoulder. "You guys are so good at basketball! Were you in the team at your school last time?"

Naruto looked at Gaara, laughing nervously. "Yeah, something like that." He was saved from more questioning as they heard a teacher in another court shouting.

"Come on, girls! It's not that hard." A female teacher with long dark hair was trying to get a class of girls to play netball but the girls were having none of it.

A familiar pink and blonde duo groaned and then started to argue, running over each others words so it was hard to distinguish who was actually talking.

"But miss, the boys are having a break. Can't we just-"

"How is it right that they get a break and we don't?"

The teacher held a hand up, sighing. "Alright, you can have 5 minutes. But you had all better start playing properly when we start again." The girls cheered and started to chat amongst themselves.

Kiba waved at some of the girls trying to get their attention and call them over but all he got was weird looks and a couple of girls whispering to each other and laughing. He growled, frustrated. "Damn! Why don't girls like me?" He pouted, crossing his arms. A shadow crossed over him making him look up.

"It's not just you." The boy with long hair was standing in front of him, looking over at the girls. "You know there's only one guy in this class with a girlfriend and that's..." He looked over his shoulder exasperated at the teacher and his student clone. "Him." He shivered as Lee saw him looking and waved excitedly, trying to call him over, which he ignored. He laughed quietly as Kiba started moaning about the fairness of it all. He slid down the fencing beside the group and turned to Naruto and Gaara. "Hey, I'm Neji by the way. I didn't hear your names earlier."

Naruto grinned. "I'm Naruto and this is Gaara." Gaara nodded in response. Naruto looked over at the hyper student as he ran over.

"Ahh, Neji! I see you are making new friends!" The boy seemed to have as much strange energy as the teacher did. "That was an excellent match by the way, you two are very skilled!!!"

The boys were introduced again, Gaara getting sick of people asking his name. When Lee had finally stopped babbling, Naruto turned to Gaara. "What's a girlfriend?" To which he received a shrug. So instead he turned to Lee and asked him. "Lee, you have a girlfriend?"

Neji groaned as Lee's energy level seemed to rise further. Lee grabbed hold of Naruto and pulled him up. He pointed over at the girls. "Yes! My girlfriend is Sakura." He then started to go on about how beautiful and charming she was and didn't even notice Naruto sit back down and edge away from him. Neji laughed, watching the events unfold but couldn't help but think that Naruto looked a bit more confused than he should.

Kiba noticed Neji's look and poked him in the shoulder to get his attention. He pulled him in close and whispered in his ear. "I should have said before. Iruka brought them into our tutor class, he wouldn't tell us what but apparently they've had a rough time until now. So don't mind it if they act a bit strange." Kiba kept wondering about all the things that had happened over the day but chose not to ask them in case it was painful for them to talk about.

Neji laughed. "Strange? You forget I have to put up with him every day." He nodded towards Lee, not seeing how anyone could be stranger.

"What's a girlfriend?" Everyone went silent and turned to Naruto, looking at him completely baffled.

Kiba looked over at Neji with an I-told-you-so look, which Neji ignored. He looked over at Gaara who was pretending to be uninterested but he could see he was listening intently. He elbowed Lee as he started to talk, making sure that he didn't confuse them further. "It's a girl who you're going out with." When Naruto still looked confused he added. "Someone you love."

"Love?" Gaara turned to Neji, finding it hard to stay out of the conversation. He was sure he'd heard the word before, but couldn't remember where he'd heard it.

Neji sat back against the fence. How did you describe love? It was so normal for everyone to know what it means that when you try and describe it. He stared into the distance for a second before replying. "It's a feeling of...affection, I guess. Uhh..." He looked over at the other boys for help, who complied.

Lee shot his hand in the air. "It's the feeling that you have to protect them no matter what." He smiled and turned back to the girls, waving at Sakura, who smiled back and gave him a small wave.

Shikamaru sighed. "This is troublesome; who knew it could be so hard to explain..." He gave up at that point, flopping back with his hands behind his head.

"Hmm..." Kiba frowned, thinking hard. "I guess you'll know when you feel it. It's like your heart beats faster..." He blushed realising what he'd just said. He shook his head. "What the hell are we doing? We don't talk about things like this, that's for girls to do." He looked over at Naruto and Gaara, hoping they were done with their questions.

Naruto looked contemplative. "A feeling of attraction...?" He muttered to himself before turning to Gaara. His face fell as he saw the old look of complete indifference on his face. "Gaara...?"

Gaara didn't seem to hear him. "A feeling." He sighed to himself, knowing from just that, that it no longer applied to him. He frowned slightly, looking out into the distance. Where had he heard the word before then? He cast his mind back trying to remember. A face appeared in his mind's eye, familiar yet unrecognisable at the same time, it smiled at him, whispering. _"I love you, Gaara."_ A feeling ran through him, like arms being wrapped around him. A sharp pain shot through his head, making him gasp and curl up slightly.

The other boys looked at him alarmed. Naruto grabbed his hand, worry etched on his face. "Gaara? You OK?" He squeezed his hand in comfort.

Gaara shook his head, the image already fading from his mind and the headache along with it. "Sorry, I'm fine." He stood up, letting go of Naruto's hand just as Gai came over to them, looking his usual happy self.

"Breaks over!!! Let's play again!" Gai grinned pulling Gaara towards him, being the closest person.

Gaara shook him off "Whatever." He didn't notice the worried look still on Naruto's face as they started to play again.

* * *

"Lunchtime!" A happy Kiba danced through the doors of the cafeteria. He grabbed a tray and ordered, positively bouncing around.

Shikamaru sighed, looking at Kiba disbelievingly. "How can you have so much energy after PE?" The group went to sit down, Naruto and Gaara followed, having grabbed the same as them.

"It's not hard!" Kiba laughed. "Maybe you should take part more, then you might not find it so tiring when you're made to work properly."

Sitting down in one of the seats, Naruto turned round, scrutinising the room. It reminded him of a room in the laboratory but bigger. He smiled as he looked around the tables at the students. The difference between the two being the amount of noise and chatter emanating from the occupants of the room. Naruto looked back down at the food in front of him giving it a slight prod, he turned to Gaara to ask what he thought but the question died in his throat as he watched Gaara start eating without hesitation. Naruto looked disbelievingly at Gaara until he looked up.

"What? It's good." Gaara licked his lips, giving Naruto a shock, and then carried on eating.

Naruto shook his head and tucked in. He grinned as he realised Gaara was telling the truth.

"Hey you guys! How's your first day going?" Sakura and Ino stood behind them, their trays put on the table next to theirs where Neji, Lee and another girl were sitting.

Naruto grinned up at them. "It's great!" He grabbed another mouthful of food, getting a bit around his mouth instead of in it. Gaara just nodded in agreement.

Ino laughed. "You're hopeless!" She grabbed a napkin and wiped the side of Naruto's face. Gaara looked sideways at this before continuing to eat, trying to ignore the way his hand shook to grab Ino's hand and push her away from Naruto. He stopped shaking as Ino and Sakura went back to sitting on their table.

While this was going on Kiba and Shikamaru had continued play fighting, but it was obvious that Shikamaru didn't have much of an argument or couldn't be bothered to think of one but Kiba was intent on keeping on pestering until Shikamaru actually admitted defeat, which wouldn't take long according to Kiba's widening grin.

Two seconds later Shikamaru threw down his fork, exasperated. "Alright, Kiba! Will you be quiet?" He growled, muttering slightly under his breath. "Bastard."

Kiba gave a mock offended look. "Bastard? Me? How could you say that?" He pouted.

"Bastard?" Naruto asked, head tilted slightly. Everything was so confusing to him today.

Kiba sighed, putting down the forkful he'd been about to eat. "You know, swear words? When you're really annoyed or angry you swear. 'fuck', 'shit' that kind of thing." He saw Naruto looking even more confused and look between Shikamaru and him. Kiba waved his hands back and forth in front of Naruto. "No it doesn't mean that Shika is annoyed with me, it's more meant in a jokey way because we're friends. You get me?"

Naruto nodded, understanding a little. He grabbed hold of his empty tray and pushed his chair out slightly. "What should I do with this?"

Kiba sighed relieved that Naruto understood and pointed over to a bin and table in the corner. "Just put it on there, mate."

Naruto took Gaara's tray as well as he finished and walked over, putting the trays down on top of the others already there. He walked back to the table, dodging through the people. As he got back to the table something knocked him from behind, making him stumble. Turning his head he saw the familiar black haired boy walk past him.

The boy smirked, looking Naruto in the eye, showing contempt. "Whoops, sorry." The voice dripped with sarcasm. "But it's your own fault for standing in the middle of the room, idiot." He turned his back on him and carried on walking.

Gaara stood up, anger flashing in his eyes but Naruto grabbed his shoulder pushing him back down. Naruto shook slightly, the only comment having really registered being 'idiot'. "Don't call me an idiot, bastard!" He shouted out at the boy angry.

The boy stopped and spun back round. "What did you just call me?" He took a step towards Naruto.

Gaara stood up again and stood in front of Naruto, this time not being stopped. He spread one arm forward, shielding Naruto from the other boy and gave the best glare he could.

Kiba stood up as well, laughing to try and dissipate the atmosphere but failed. He walked over to the boy before he could take another step, and pushed him back slightly. "Come on Sasuke, leave him alone on his first day." The boy tutted and walked away again. Kiba spun annoyed. "Naruto! Don't make enemies on your first day!"

Naruto sat back down pouting and crossing his arms. "You said to use those words if I was angry. He made me angry." Gaara sat next to him, still keeping an eye on Sasuke.

"Don't be mean to him, Kiba." Sakura cut in before Kiba could reply. "You know that Sasuke did that on purpose, the jerk."

Kiba sat back down. "Alright, I'm sorry." He laughed at Sakura. "And anyway, it's ironic you calling him a jerk, when you used to fancy him!"

A clatter of cutlery from Sakura's table made them all look over. Lee was tearfully staring at Sakura. "You used to fancy him?"

Sakura tutted and grabbed his hands, smiling softly. "That was ages ago honey, I'm going out with you, aren't I?" She knew the right words to calm down her over-excitable boyfriend and turned back to Kiba, still holding Lee's hand. "And anyway that was before he turned into a jerk."

A bell ringing stopped Kiba from replying. He grabbed hold of Shikamaru's wrist, getting a noise of protest, to look at his watch. "Shit! That's the time already?!?" He swallowed the last mouthful of food and rushed over to the bin, dropping the tray off. The rest of the group started to get up and get ready, groaning about how short lunch seemed. Kiba pulled Gaara and Naruto up. "Come on you two! It's time for the next class."

* * *

Kiba dragged the two boys into a room full of computers and led them over to a corner sitting them down.

Naruto looked at the computer interestedly and started to tap at the keyboard, while Gaara just stared at the screen, wondering what 'login' meant.

Kiba grabbed Naruto's hands and held down the delete button, deleting the jumble of numbers and letters Naruto had filled the username and password sections with. "Don't mess around with it, these computers are old and temperamental as it is. You'll get a username and password soon enough, then you can tap away as much as you want."

The teacher came in, clicking down a file on his desk and sitting down in a big swivel chair, logging himself on to the computer at the front. He grabbed a pen from the desk and started to chew the end as he waited for the computer to load. When it did, he grabbed a remote, clicking so that what was on his screen came up on the board behind him for the class to see. He took the pen out of his mouth. "Alright guys, you know what you're doing. Last lesson you were adding to those websites you were making. Don't..." He tapped the screen behind him before continuing. "...forget the rules about taking pictures from other websites." He got nods of understanding from everyone except the two in the back. Raising a hand, he motioned them over as the class started to get to work.

The boys walked over, between the other pupils already starting to log on to the school system. Naruto stopped to stare over a girls shoulder, fascinated before Gaara grabbed him and kept him walking forward.

"Alright, you two, I'm Genma Shiranui." The pen back in his mouth, the teacher's voice was muffled. "Just call me sir if it's easier but I'm used to these guys calling me by my first name. Little disrespectable things." The class laughed and Genma shock his head at them and signalled them to get back to work before turning back to the two of them. "So, where did you two get to in your IT studies before here?" When he got blank stares from the two of them he sighed. Taking the pen out of his mouth he asked a different question instead. "OK...How about this, have you two got any questions about any of this?" He nodded at Naruto as he raised his hand slightly.

Naruto pointed at the teacher's computer. "What is that?"

* * *

Gaara and Naruto walked towards Iruka's classroom. It had been a week since they had entered the school and they were settling in better than any of the adults who knew about them had hoped. Throughout the week the two of them had undergone proper tests to find out their levels of understanding in the different subjects and by using this, Tsunade had come with a timetable that suited them, making sure to keep them the same when she sure how much they stayed together. Both of them were allowed to stop going to Maths lessons as they took tests meant for much older students and still passed with flying colours and instead spent the time studying for the other classes that they didn't understand, which for the moment was IT.

Since the second day of their schooling, Iruka had given both of them a notebook and set them the task of writing down anything that confused them outside of lessons and then to come to him and ask him what they were, having noticed the looks some of the class kept giving them when they asked random questions. So far, this had helped a lot as they tried to understand the new setting they had found themselves in. He also got Kakashi to give them each a phone when he found out they only had one between them, on the grounds of them ever being split up and needing to contact both of them. A notion Naruto laughed at but Gaara was secretly relieved at the thought of being able to get hold of Naruto even if they were separated.

The two boys had also been moved into more permanent residence, having settled in so well at the school and as there was no knowing how long it would be for the police to find out information about them. They had been moved into a small flat which was already littered with clothes (old cast offs from Iruka and Kakashi) and bits of paper. Not really knowing what else to do with their time they had so far spent most of their evenings looking over the work the teachers had given them, learning and catching up with the rest of the pupils as fast as they could. The other nights they had been called out by Kiba and his friends, mostly aimed at Naruto as he seemed to be able to make friends wherever he went but they didn't mind Gaara tagging along. Gaara was slowly getting jealous of the people getting closer to Naruto, slowly taking his attention away from him. But he was mostly jealous of someone that he still didn't know whether Naruto even liked or not. Sasuke. Whenever he came near Naruto would get competitive and they would have petty arguments for no reason. He annoyed Gaara so much though because whenever he was there Naruto forgot everything else, making Gaara realise that Naruto really wanted this guy as a friend no matter what it took, just because he seemed to like amassing friends.

Gaara shook his head, dissipating the looming thoughts, he went to open on the door, but stopped as he heard voices in the room, his hand still on the door handle.

"Iruka." A familiar voice whined from inside, making Naruto and Gaara roll their eyes at each other. "Why are you being so mean?"

A sigh was heard. "I'm not being mean, you sitting on my desk is just highly inconvenient. Now move." A shuffling was heard as Kakashi dropped from the desk, sulking. "Now, what did you want, Kakashi?"

There was a creak as Kakashi sat on one of the student's desks. "Just wanted to see how the two were doing, that's all. And see you of cours-" His phone ringing stopped him, making him growl. He grabbed the phone from his pocket, checking who was ringing him. "Sorry, two seconds." He flicked the phone open and put it to his ear. "Jiraiya? What is it?" He listened for a minute. "Really? OK, I get it, great news." He clicked the phone down and sat in silence for a second.

"Well?" Iruka was slightly impatient. "You said 'great news', what happened?"

Kakashi smiled slightly, looking up at him. "We've found Gaara's family."


	6. Making sense

**A/N: Uhh...hello again? *listens to the silence* I'm sorry ^^; I've been doing a lot of other fanfics and neglected this...but now I'm going to try and finish this before I go on to any other long stories so please keep watching~ **

* * *

Gaara froze outside the door, his hand tightening on the door handle but he still didn't make an attempt to open the door. He didn't know what to do, or what to think for that matter as his brain blanked out, the words Kakashi had just uttered echoing around his head.

Naruto looked from the door to Gaara's expression, noting all the things whirling round his head from his facial expressions. He tried not to smile, realising that Gaara was for once feeling too many emotions to comprehend instead of his usual expressionless and unemotional view of everything. Though in spite of his happiness that Gaara was thinking and feeling for himself there was a pang of jealousy in his heart that Gaara had found his family and he was worried that now Gaara would leave him in favour of his family.

"Can't you two open a door?"

Naruto jumped at the voice behind him and spun, glaring at Sasuke. "Oi, bastard! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Whatever, idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes before continuing down the corridor, a soft smirk on his face. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, especially not Naruto but he was starting to enjoy their little arguments or snide comments. They had definitely become jokier than the first time they had been said.

The door opened in front of Gaara and Naruto, Kakashi having heard Naruto and Sasuke talking. He smiled down at Gaara. "How long have you two been standing there?" His smile wavered slightly as Gaara ignored him and walked straight past him. "I'm guessing you heard then?"

Gaara nodded before beginning to pace for a second, his thoughts still in a jumble. He turned to Kakashi for a second. "Is it true?"

Kakashi nodded. "Apparently so."

Gaara nodded again before sitting down, a frown on his face, still trying to comprehend everything that was going through his head.

Naruto walked in, grinning at Gaara's facial expression. "Your head innards hurting?"

Gaara looked up at him, his face still perplexed. "Yeah."

Iruka looked between them, an eyebrow raised. "'Head innards'?"

Naruto looked over, shrugging. "Just something Kiba said."

Iruka shook his head, sighing. Maybe letting Kiba show them around had not been the best idea. He stood up and walked over to Gaara, wanting to help him. "Gaara? Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Gaara looked up at him, a million questions running through his head that he could ask before his head hurt again, making him hold his head. "I can't remember them..."

Kakashi sighed. "That's to be expected. A lot's happened since you've last seen them. They'll understand if that's what you're worried about."

Gaara turned to him. "Understand?" He hadn't even been thinking about what they'd think of him, just that he wouldn't know them. "I was more annoyed at myself for not remembering them."

Naruto winced for a second, having seen what everyone went through when they came into the lab. He ruffled Gaara's hair. "Idiot, you know you don't have any control over that."

Kakashi smiled as he watched Gaara begin to relax. "Don't worry, you'll have time to prepare before they get here and I'll hopefully get some more information about them as well so maybe we can jog your memories a bit."

Iruka smiled reassuringly as well. "Everything's going to be fine."

* * *

Gaara woke up and looked over at the clock, noticing it was 5 in the morning. He stood up and stretched before looking out of the window, trying not to wake up Naruto. He sighed. It had been a week since they had had the conversation with Kakashi and it was finally the day that Gaara's family would arrive. He was already nervous, Kakashi's information on his family having not helped him at all in remembering them. But at least now he knew that he was waiting for two people to arrive, his apparent older brother and older sister. Though their names still sounded foreign in his own thoughts. He had found out that his parents were dead, not that he cared too much about people he couldn't remember, even though he guessed he should care. He tried to calm down as he stared out at the empty street in front of him. What was he meant to say when he saw them? Would they know what had happened to him? Or would he have to explain? How would they react if he had to explain? Would they be scared of him? His stomach twisted painfully at the thought. What would he do if he finally met his family and instead of making bonds with them, he actually pushed them further away?

"What are you doing, Gaara?"

Gaara jumped at the voice behind him, spinning round, his heart beating faster. He tried to smile at Naruto. "Don't worry, just go back to sleep."

Naruto yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Nahh, I'm awake." He sat up properly, smiling tiredly, though he tried to hide it. "You need to stop worrying, Gaara. Just be yourself."

Gaara stared at him, disbelievingly. "Be myself? Emotionless me?"

Naruto sighed; this might be harder than he thought it would be.

* * *

Gaara continued to fidget as they were driven to the police station where he would meet his family. Still not knowing how he should behave around them and wondering what he should ask them first. Time slipped past quickly until suddenly he found himself inside the police station, wondering how he had gotten there so fast.

Kakashi smiled as he brought over two unfamiliar people. "Hey, Gaara. This is Temari and Kankuro." He looked over at Naruto who had come with Gaara. "Maybe we should leave them alone for a bit."

Gaara took Naruto's hand as he went to move away. He didn't want to be left on his own quite yet with two strangers.

Temari walked forward, staring at her brother before hugging him. "I know this is sudden and I'm sorry but I just really need to do this." She hugged him tighter and held him close. "We almost lost hope..."

Gaara froze at the hug, his hand letting go of Naruto's in shock. "Uhh...umm..." Gaara stood stuttering, not knowing how to take the situation and panicking because he still didn't recognise them.

Kankuro laughed and pulled Temari away. "Give him some space, Temari. You know that he doesn't know who we are."

Gaara looked at him guiltily and shuffled his feet. "I'm sorry..."

Temari shook her head. "No, no! It's fine. To be honest it's hard to recognise you." She said it sheepishly, recognising her own brother even if he had grown but hoping that he would be more relaxed if she said this.

Gaara did soften up a bit, relieved that he wasn't the only one in that position and realised they were probably just as nervous as he was. He licked his lips, feeling them go dry as he tried to ask some questions. "How did...umm...what happened?"

Kankuro shook his head. "How about we try and remember each other first, then have the meaningful chat?" He grinned. "Ohh, which reminds me..." He reached into his pocket, pulling out some folded paper. "We thought we should bring some photos with us, just to see if we could help you remember us."

Gaara took the photos wondering what they were. He opened them up, the first one being a scene of a birthday party, with him at the centre. He blinked as he recognised himself as a young boy before wincing and dropping the picture. 'Happy birthday' echoed round his head and he could smell burning candles. He shook his head, wondering what was going on ad picked up the photo again. "Sorry." He frowned afterwards, wondering how he knew that the scene had been a birthday party and what a candle was and what it smelt like.

Naruto grinned. "You remembered something, didn't you?"

Gaara jumped, almost having forgotten Naruto was there. "Huh? How would you know...?"

Naruto tutted. "You did that at school when people said something that sounded familiar; it wasn't hard to figure out." He yawned jokingly.

"Umm..." Both Gaara and Naruto turned around to Temari as she smiled at Naruto. "Who is this, Gaara?"

Gaara smiled, unknowingly. "This is Naruto, he's my friend." He looked over at Naruto, happy to be able to call someone that. "We escaped the lab together."

Temari smiled. "You've been looking after our Gaara then?"

Naruto nodded, grinning widely. "Something like that."

Kankuro coughed softly, grabbing their attention. "I don't want to bring up something painful but have you found your family yet, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nope."

Gaara pulled him over, feeling protective. "He's family." He looked guiltily at his new found siblings, not wanting them to think he had replaced them but also wanting to help Naruto and show him he wasn't going to disappear, he'd made a promise after all.

Temari laughed. "Well then." She stepped closer again and pulled Naruto this time into a hug. "If your Gaara's family that makes you our family as well." She smiled down at Naruto. "That is if you don't mind having another brother and sister."

Naruto grinned, happy that Gaara's family were this nice and that now he wouldn't feel left out. "No, that's great. Thank you." He felt warm inside, though he didn't really understand why.

Temari let go. "Good. Well, for starters we need to go shopping." She laughed at the confused look on the faces in front of her and the disbelieving one behind her. "What? I heard that you're wearing cast offs at the moment, you need your own clothes." She grinned before grabbing Naruto and Gaara's hand in each of her own and pulling them towards the exit.

* * *

A few hours later and all four of them were back inside Naruto and Gaara's flat, the atmosphere a lot warmer than it had been to begin with. Gaara, though, was still apprehensive. So far every time he had tried to get the conversation rolling about what had happened his siblings had changed the subject, not wanting to destroy the happy atmosphere they had got going. He sighed as he stared out of the window again, frowning slightly at the rain hitting it as he thought through how to get them to talk.

Naruto walked up behind him, feeling out of place again as he noticed Gaara getting more and more frustrated about not being told anything. "Do you want me to leave for a bit so you can talk?"

Gaara turned, shock etched on his face before smiling. "You really can tell what I'm thinking, can't you? Would that be Ok? I mean it's tipping it down." He pointed out of the window. "What would you do?"

Naruto laughed, his lies coming easily. "Don't worry about that. Kiba invited me out with everyone else earlier but I said I couldn't go. I don't think they'd mind if I said I was free now." He slipped on his jacket, newly bought by Temari who wouldn't take no for an answer when she saw how good it looked on him, and put his phone in his pocket. "I've got my phone so I'll give you a text if the plans change." He left before Gaara could stop him, not wanting Gaara to see through the lies because he knew then that he wouldn't be able to leave.

Gaara sighed as he looked at the closed door before turning to his now silent siblings who were looking at each other worriedly. "Do you think you could tell me what happened now, please? I know it might be upsetting for you to talk about but it's really frustrating not remembering." He smiled helplessly.

Kankuro sighed. "It's not that, it's just still a shock for us to see you. We'd given up hope, thought you were dead, we don't want to ruin things now."

Gaara shook his head softly, not looking up at them. "I know but...I really want to know. I hate the fact that I don't remember you properly, it's only vague and inconsistent and it hurts to try and remember more."

Kankuro sighed again as he sat down on one of the beds, Temari following suit. "Fine, I'll tell you what I can remember. You went missing on your...9th birthday I think it was." Temari nodded, to show he was right. Kankuro smiled ironically. "You were so happy because for once our parents would be there for your birthday; they normally were too busy with work. Unfortunately they were called away at the last minute for a job and as you never saw them on your birthday and were upset you asked if you could go with them." He shook his head. "We don't know what happened after that, we couldn't go with you."

Even though he knew it had happened years ago, a small sense of relief passed through him at the fact that they couldn't come with them. Then all three of them would have been stuck in the laboratory, a thought which sent a shiver down his spine, though he was slightly happy for it as he realised he felt a connection with his siblings, a feeling of wanting to protect them. His thoughts came out in a mutter. "It's a good thing you couldn't come."

Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance before Temari carried on the story. "All we know is that that night we received word that our parents had been killed and that they couldn't find your body. We tried so hard to believe you were still alive, but as the years went on..."

Gaara took in the information sluggishly, like his brain was refusing to comprehend it. It took him a minute to realise that the dream he always had was that of his parents dying, but he still felt no emotion towards them or their deaths. Maybe he still couldn't accept it or maybe, he realised belatedly, he had been so responsive in the programs at the laboratory that helped strip them of emotion because he felt guilty for his parents death, he knew that because of his selfish wish to see them he had led them to their deaths. His face twisted in pain momentarily. "If only I hadn't gone..."

Kankuro stood up and placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. It wasn't your fault."

Gaara shook his head. "It was...the laboratory only takes children..."

Temari stood up as well and gave him another hug before pulling back and staring at him. "Now it's your turn, you need to tell us what's happened since we last saw you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto traipsed along the streets of the town, shaking his wet hair out of his face as he wondered how long he should give Gaara and his family before he went back. He kicked at a puddle, spraying up water before looking around, not really aware of his surroundings in the fierce torrent of rain. He blinked up at the sky, just standing watching the rain fall, looking depressed to anyone who happened to see him.

"What are you up to now, idiot? Trying to catch a cold?"

Naruto turned to the voice, not really thinking that anyone would notice him in this weather. He smiled. "Hey, bastard."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped closer; sharing the umbrella he had with Naruto. "Moron, you are going to get sick, you know." He shook his head, glad that he had seen him before he spent too long out here and caught pneumonia or something before wondering why the hell he cared, he had only gone out because he realised he had no food in the house. "So, you didn't answer my question, what are you doing out here?"

"The police found Gaara's family." He looked over and saw Sasuke's confused look and realised he wasn't meant to say anything about what had happened to them. "Uhh...we haven't seen our families in years; we don't really talk about it." He looked away, pretending it was painful. "But anyway, they've found Gaara's family, so I thought I should give them some time alone to...get to know each other again I guess."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, Naruto looked so lonely when he spoke like that, a look he knew well from the mirror. He prodded Naruto to look at him again.

"Hey, do you want to come to mine for a bit? Just until they've finished that is."


	7. A secret revealed

**A/N: **Cha~ I forgot to put in the last chapter ^^; the 'head innards' came from something a friend siad to me while I was writing fic ideas and it ended up being written on the same piece of paper XD so I couldn't resist putting it in somewhere :3 Hope people enjoy this chapter~

* * *

Naruto blinked at Sasuke's invitation, not knowing whether to believe him or act like it was a joke. In the end he stood in silence, wondering whether Sasuke had actually said what he thought he had.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, not really knowing himself why he had said it; he had just felt inclined to. A mutual feeling having risen in him which made him feel the need to speak out. He spun away from Naruto and started to slowly walk away. "I won't ask again, idiot, you coming or not?"

Naruto blinked again before a broad grin made its way across his face as he splashed through the puddles to catch up with Sasuke, drenching himself further without even realising it. His grin widened as he caught up. "You're still a bastard though, k?"

Sasuke smirked. "Whatever."

* * *

"Tch, moron." Sasuke moved out of the way as Naruto shook the rain from his hair.

Naruto smiled, not really minding. He'd never been out walking in the rain before. It was refreshing to him, even if it was cold enough to make his teeth chatter. Without answering Sasuke he looked around, interested in the place that he had grown up in, though a frown crossed his face as he stared. "This place is..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again, not having noticed Naruto's facial expression and just thought he was showing awe. "Cool? Spacious? Huge?"

"Lonely."

Sasuke froze for a second, before frowning and turning around seeing Naruto's thoughtful expression as he continued to look around, having ventured further into the hall. "What do you mean?"

Naruto stopped, thinking he might be being rude and walked back to Sasuke, his head slightly tilted as if he was listening. "It just seems lonely, that's all. It's so quiet...it doesn't feel lived in." His frown deepened. "Where are the other people who live here?"

Sasuke blinked at him, wondering how to answer that and at the same time shocked that Naruto could feel that atmosphere almost instantly, an atmosphere Sasuke had grown up with for the last few years. He turned away from Naruto, gesturing for him to follow as he walked to the kitchen, thinking about making them a drink to warm up. "No one else lives here. I live alone."

"Alone?" Naruto's head tilted again, not understanding. He'd been with children his age all his life, there hadn't really been personal or private time at the lab.

Sasuke nodded as he turned the kettle on. "Yeah, you know, on my own, no adults, no annoying siblings..." He tried to act nonchalant about the conversation, though his hand clenched into a fist by his side. He brought to steaming mugs over to the table a minute later and sat down opposite Naruto. "Like you and Gaara I guess. You two live on your own."

"But I have Gaara."

Sasuke frowned for a second, realising this was another one of those moments that showed that Naruto didn't act like an ordinary teenager would. He chuckled, deciding not to dwell on it. "Honestly, most people are age would see it as a good thing. To live on your own, no one to boss you around. That was the impression I was trying to give. You and Gaara may live together but you have a sense of freedom that most kids are age wish for."

"But not you." Naruto stared at Sasuke, taking the body language and the emotions he was trying to conceal so hard. "You don't wish for this, do you?" Naruto looked around again, not liking the silence and shivered, though he didn't know whether it was dues to his thoughts or just because he was cold. "I have Gaara at least, who do you have?"

Sasuke's eyes went cold. "I have myself, I don't need anyone else." He stood up, taking his mug back to the sink even though it was only half drunk.

"Liar." Naruto played with his mug, using it to keep his hands warm. He didn't look up at Sasuke but knew that he had paused next to the sink. "You keep up this bravado but it's not true. You're lonely, aren't you? I know I would be."

Sasuke looked back at him over his shoulder, his expression unsure. "Not many people would say that. Most want to get away from their families and live their own lives, so why don't you?" Sasuke didn't know what had happened to Naruto and Gaara and that frustrated him, though he did know that they'd had a rough time, so surely their parents had to have played a part in that at some time?

"Because I'm still looking for mine." Naruto finally looked up from his mug and smiled at Sasuke, though it appeared sad even to Sasuke. "I've never met them...as far as I know." He looked away for a second, wondering if there was any trace of them in his memory before he sighed at his unsuccessful endeavour. "I think that a family would be nice...isn't it?" He looked back up at Sasuke, his hope showing through his eyes.

Sasuke sat down again, thoughtful. "I guess but every family has its secrets." He wondered how to describe it properly. "Not all people are good are they? Some people are bad, right?" He waited for Naruto to nod before continuing. "The same can be said for families. Some are happy, some don't end up that way even though their meant to...it depends on the people inside them." He stopped for a second. "Am I making sense?"

Naruto nodded. "I think so. A family is made up of people, so it depends who the people are?" He smiled as Sasuke nodded back. "I bet my family will be great!" He grinned again, his faith restored by his own confidence. His smile waned after a second though as he realised something. "I'm sorry for being personal but...does that mean your family wasn't happy?"

Sasuke, who had almost smiled at Naruto, slipped back into his stoic expression. "Something like that...sometimes things don't turn out the way you expect." He paused, wondering how best to phrase his response without giving too much about himself away. "It's not that my family wasn't happy but...my parents are dead, that's why I live alone." He decided the blunt approach was best for this situation.

"Dead..." Naruto looked down at the table. He hadn't thought through that turn of events, hadn't even imagined not finding his parents because they weren't here anymore and so the news came as a shock to him, jolting him out of the little fairytale he had unconsciously started telling in his head that everything would be fine once he found his family.

Sasuke cursed under his breath, putting two and two together as he realised that Naruto hadn't thought of the possibility of not finding his parents from the lonely expression he held on his face again. The same look he had had when he had tried to hold back his jealousy that Gaara had found his family. "Hey, Naruto..."

Naruto looked up and saw the guilty expression on Sasuke's face and smiled, stopping Sasuke from whatever he had been about to say. "Hey, should we be brothers?"

Sasuke blinked at him, his mind completely thrown. "Huh?"

Naruto looked down again, embarrassed. "Well...I think of Gaara as family and his family thinks of me as being part of it...I like that feeling of being part of something." He smiled happily at the thought. "And well...I see you as being well...similar to me and..." he stopped, his face scrunched up as he tried to think of the right words.

Sasuke smirked. "Similar, eh?" He tried to keep his face as a smirk instead of the smile that was threatening to come forth. "Sure, why not, you're the annoying brother I never knew I had, moron." He tried to sound sarcastic and nonchalant again, but his mouth betrayed him as it quirked up at the corners into a smile.

"Bastard." Naruto pouted at the response, though he was happy that he'd gotten through to Sasuke in some way at least and even if Sasuke didn't think of him as such he would think of Sasuke as a friend.

Sasuke smirked again, trying not to laugh before remembering that Naruto was still soaked from his walk in the rain. "Hey, I forgot...do you want to borrow some clothes?"

Naruto looked down, registering himself that he was soaked through. "Nahh, it's OK. I should probably be getting home soon..." He paused as he got his phone out to check the time and saw the blank screen, realising it was dead. "Ehh? I must have forgotten to charge it." He gulped slightly. "I hope Gaara hasn't been trying to get hold of me...he'll be worried."

Sasuke shook his head, still not understanding Gaara. He only ever saw him smile around Naruto and so in classes where they were separated he went back to being silent and expressionless so the image of Gaara being 'worried' was a hard one to fathom. "You can ring him with my phone if you want." He pointed behind him to the landline. "You do know his number, right?"

Naruto nodded, it hadn't taken him long to remember Gaara's number and it was one of those times that he was glad he had a head for numbers. "Thanks." He quietly went over to the phone and rung Gaara, wincing ready for Gaara's rebuke about his phone. His face changed from smiling apology to a deepening frown as the conversation went on before he put the phone down. "Thanks Sasuke, for letting me stay here for a bit and use your phone. I should get going now."

Sasuke nodded before grabbing Naruto's shoulder. "Sure, but first you tell me what's up." It wasn't hard to tell when Naruto wasn't himself, his hyperactivity being the usual sign that everything was fine wasn't like it was normally.

Naruto looked up, his face still perplexed. "It's just Gaara sounded odd on the phone, so I kind of want to get back now and see what's bothering him." He chuckled. "He wouldn't tell me on the phone. All he said was to watch out for trouble on my way back. Something about remembering what Kakashi told us about the crime rate at the moment." He rolled his eyes. "I can look after myself."

Sasuke laughed, wanting to keep up the atmosphere, though was shocked to hear his own laugh and how natural it sounded. He had expected it to seem wrong from lack of use. "I bet Gaara always comes and helps you in fights you get yourself into."

Naruto shook his head, acting serious. "No, we're not allowed to help each other in fights. It's always one-on-one after all."

Sasuke shrugged, not understanding the implication and deciding he didn't want to either. "Whatever, I'll see you at school, right?"

Naruto nodded, grinning as he raced through the door and back into the rain, though it had become less torrential. "See ya!"

* * *

Sasuke frowned half an hour later when his thoughts were disturbed by his phone ringing. He had been wondering how Naruto had somehow made him smile and laugh without even meaning to, just on impulse and whether he should be worried about this fact. He was still thinking this when he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke's thought process disappeared as he recognised the voice. "Gaara? Yeah, it's me, what's up?" He had never expected to talk to Gaara, let alone get a phone call from him, so he didn't know what to expect.

There was a pause as Gaara figured out what to say. "I'm sorry for ringing you like this; I remembered the number from when Naruto rang a while ago. It's just...has Naruto left your house yet?"

Sasuke, perplexed, looked over at the clock on the wall, to check Naruto had left around half an hour ago. "Yeah, he left right after ringing you...is he not back yet?" Sasuke thought it through, it was only a ten minute walk from his house to Naruto and Gaara's flat, so it shouldn't have taken anywhere near half an hour.

Gaara's voice became even more worried to Sasuke's ears though there was also a hint behind it that he suspected was what Naruto had mentioned earlier. "No...he isn't."

Sasuke thought for a second trying to work out what could have happened. "Right. You have Iruka's number, don't you?"

"Yes, he gave it to us in case we needed anything."

Sasuke nodded. "OK, give him a ring. He should have the other members of our tutor group's numbers in case of an emergency. That way we can check if Naruto just met up with one of them and hasn't got round to ringing yet."

"OK, but what about if he's not with any of them?"

"I'm going to go look outside for him now, if I find him I'll let you know." Sasuke put the phone down before Gaara could argue about coming with him, which he knew he was bound to do. He slipped on his shoes and coat again and grabbed the umbrella before running out into the rain. His brain registering subconsciously that he was actually worried about Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke panted as he stopped running for a second. So far he'd had no luck locating Naruto and Gaara had already rung him saying that no-one in the tutor group knew where he was but that Kiba was asking around everyone else that Naruto knew. Sasuke was starting to worry now himself, knowing that Naruto wouldn't just walk off without telling anyone. He shook his head, squinting through the half gloom made by the rain and soft glow of the street lamps that had turned on above him, trying to see anything he could have missed. There were a few people near him that were unrecognisable through the rain. A woman with an umbrella walking past, some people waiting on a bus stop. He walked on, trying to catch a glimpse of the people, to identify them but so far he wasn't having much luck. He carried on, looking up the streets he passed and noticing three people ahead of him, some friends having a fight as far as he could tell. Just as he was about to carry on and look down the next street, a glow of blonde hair from the street lamp above him caught his eye. He looked back at the group, his eyes again squinting again as he walked forwards. His eyes went wide as he recognised the back of a blonde head and realised that this wasn't just some friends having a fight, finally listening to the words that had been drowned out by the rain before.

"I thought I told you-"

"I know what you said. But I can't give you something I don't have."

Sasuke blinked at the exchange, his mind seeming slow on the uptake especially as Naruto sounded so calm and collected. He shook his head though, realising that Naruto's view of the world, or limited experience in it probably didn't include anything like 'mugging'. Wondering what to do, he looked around before freezing, a glint of silver catching his eye in the mugger's hand. "Naruto!" Without even meaning to he shouted and ran forwards.

Naruto spun around, shocked and at the same moment the mugger, in his own shock, came forward, the penknife in his hand pushing into Naruto's side. Naruto winced, falling to his knees. He blinked for a second, wondering what had happened. The guy hadn't seemed that threatening to him, he hadn't actually used a knife before from the look on his face and his stance in Naruto's opinion. He had been more worried about how he should disarm the guy without injuring him and yet now here he was bleeding and in pain, the type of pain he hadn't felt since leaving the lab.

"What did you do that for?" The mugger's friend grabbed his arm, his face scared.

"I-I didn't mean to." The guy's hands shook as he stared down at Naruto, his face full of fear and guilt.

His friend pulled him away. "Come on, we have to leave now!"

Sasuke debated about following them before deciding Naruto needed his help more. "Naruto, I'm so sorry! This is my fault." He bit his lip, wondering belatedly if Naruto would have been stabbed if he hadn't shouted.

Naruto gestured to him that it was fine. "Don't worry about it." He gripped the pen knife and pulled it out quickly and easily, wincing slightly at the pain but glad that he hadn't caused himself further injury. "See?"

Sasuke shuddered slightly at the ease in which Naruto had done that and the calmness Naruto was showing. "Naruto, have you-" He stopped himself from asking about Naruto's past, now slightly scared to ask. "Actually never mind." He got his phone out to ring an ambulance. "But anyway, you shouldn't have done that. You should have waited." He stopped what he was doing as Naruto tried to stand up. "What are you doing? Don't try and move!" He pulled Naruto back down again.

"Why? I'm fine, really."

"You're not fine, you've just been stabbed! You're bleeding-" He stopped his tirade as he noticed that the bleeding had stopped, or from what he could tell anyway as he couldn't see the blood patch on Naruto's clothes getting any bigger. "Huh?" He dropped his phone, not even noticing where it went as he grabbed Naruto's shirt, lifting it up to have a look at the wound.

"Sasuke? What are you doing?" Naruto, perplexed, didn't understand what Sasuke was doing and why he had gone silent.

Sasuke dropped Naruto's shirt, his eyes wide with shock and confusion, with a hint of fear showing through though he tried to quell it.

"The wound...it's healed. How is that possible?"

* * *

**A/N:** Hope that wasn't too overly dramatic for people ^^; sorry if it was~


	8. A tale told

**A/N: Ugg...I'm so sorry this has taken awhile ^^; (that's all I ever seem to say isn't it *sighs at her own uselessness when it comes to updates*) But anywho~ the next chapter, hope it's ok =^-^=**

***fingers crossed* I shall have more chapters up this week as next week I have no internet access so please keep a look out~**

* * *

Kakashi sighed. Today was not his day. Not only did he get a call from Gaara saying one of his 'charges' as Jiraiya liked to put it had gone missing and then the subsequent call that had alerted him that Naruto was hurt and was being brought over to the station for a statement but he also then had to find out that it was Sasuke who had been with him and was now asking questions. "Of all the people you could have been with Naruto..." He shook his head, wondering how he was going to get through the next hour or so as he walked into the station, having had the evening off, and saw Sasuke making a beeline for him.

"What's going on, Kakashi?" Sasuke stood in his way, arms crossed.

"You were there, you tell me." Kakashi smiled at him before manoeuvring himself past, it wouldn't do well to be trapped in a corner by Sasuke, he was a smart kid and Kakashi had realised that long ago.

Sasuke pouted as he followed Kakashi. "You know what I mean!" He stopped as he noticed Kakashi's serious look as he pushed through the police station and wondered whether he'd missed something, or if Naruto was seriously hurt. Sasuke stopped, doubting what he had seen, could it have been shock? Naruto certainly tried to shrug it off, maybe he didn't know what Sasuke had been going on about. "Hey...Kakashi, is Naruto OK?"

Kakashi paused at the fear in Sasuke's voice, having never heard him worry about someone before. He turned, trying his best to smile. "Of course he's going to be fine. It can't have been that bad an injury if he's been brought straight here instead of to a hospital. But as I said before, you were there, so you tell me, do you think he's going to be OK?"

Sasuke nodded, though the doubt still showed on his face. "But I thought I saw something that's impossible."

Kakashi smiled tiredly, knowing that they wouldn't be able to hide the secrets they'd been trying so hard to keep. He ruffled Sasuke's hair, receiving a glare for the action. "Let's go and see Naruto and then we'll talk about it, OK?"

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the back room in which Naruto was. He grinned up at them as they came in, the grin looking too normal against the amount of bandages he had wrapped around his middle. "There you two are! I was getting bored by myself."

Sasuke glared at him, annoyed, his worry for his friend disappearing as he saw how happy he was. "Oi, Naruto-"

Kakashi stopped him with a gesture before walking over to Naruto, his face once again serious. "Naruto, we're going to have to tell Sasuke the truth now, are you OK with that?"

Naruto's grin waned as he nodded slowly, refusing to look up at Sasuke now. "OK, but can we wait for Gaara? He's on his way."

Kakashi smiled encouragingly. "Of course, how long do you think he's going to be?"

Naruto tilted his head, thinking it through. "He got a phone call from here telling him what happened about 5 minutes ago."

"Is someone going to pick him up?"

Naruto shook his head at the question about to answer further but was stopped by Sasuke interrupting.

"Great, he's not going to be here for another half an hour at least." Sasuke pouted, crossing his arms as he flopped in a seat near Naruto.

Naruto frowned, shaking his head again. "No, he'll be here much sooner than that."

A clatter of doors made them all turn around as Gaara burst through. Gaara looked around at them all before standing up straight, looking as normal as if he'd just strolled there at his own pace.

Sasuke blinked before looking down at his watch. "Are you sure you rang him only 5 minutes ago?"

The policeman with them nodded, his face incredulous. "It could only have been 10 at the most."

Sasuke turned to Kakashi, his arms crossed again. "Right, now I've seen two impossible things today. So, will you just get on with it and tell me what's going on?"

Kakashi sighed before nodding and standing up. "Fine but there's one last thing I want to do first." He gestured to Sasuke to stand up and took him to the other side of the room, putting down the chair he'd dragged over as well. "If you don't mind sitting over here." Before Sasuke could answer, Kakashi turned and gestured for Gaara to go and sit beside Naruto, who promptly did so and at the same time checked up on him to make sure he was OK.

"Kakashi, what are you-"

"I'm just taking precautions, Sasuke." Kakashi turned around and sat up on the table between them, not being bothered enough to grab himself a chair. "I don't want anything getting out of hand."

"Out of hand?" Sasuke frowned, perplexed, having not thought that this 'talk' could result in anything.

Kakashi nodded. "So if you don't mind, please stay on that side of the table and..." He looked over his shoulder at the other two. "...you two please stay on that side." He looked fixedly at Gaara making it known who he was actually talking to. "I don't know how this talk will go and I'd rather it didn't turn out violent."

Naruto grinned, though he was slightly worried, not understanding how their talk could get violent. "K, we'll stay over here." He tightened his hand around Gaara's under the table to make sure he'd stay put.

Kakashi smiled. "Good." He clapped his hands together. "Right then, let's get on with this then." Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, his smile waning slightly. "I hope that you can keep what is said here a secret Sasuke, though it is going to be hard for you to hear."

Sasuke glared. "Just get on with it Kakashi, you know I can keep a secret and deal with...things."

Kakashi nodded. "Right, I'll go with the blunt approach then. These two came from the U&U lab."

Sasuke froze, his eyes widening. "What?"

Before Kakashi could answer, a voice spoke up behind him.

"U&U?" Naruto tilted his head, not understanding.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Kakashi laughed, embarrassed at forgetting. "The U&U lab is what the place you were in is called out here."

"Out here?" Sasuke sat, his mind refusing to connect the links as he shook his head. "They worked there?"

"No, Sasuke." Kakashi sighed, knowing how hard this was. "They lived there as...test subjects."

Sasuke shook his head, standing up, the chair falling behind him. "You're wrong. That can't be right. It was a research centre...on animals."

Gaara glared. "Are you calling us animals?" He tried to stand up but Naruto's hand tightened around his and pulled him back.

Sasuke's eyes widened, feeling slightly guilty at the angry look on Gaara's face and the hurt one on Naruto's. "No, I'm not..."

Kakashi put up a hand to silence them all. "Sit down, Sasuke." He turned again to look behind him. "That's not what he meant Gaara. Everyone outside of the lab was led to believe the test subjects were animals and that the place was looking for medical breakthroughs."

"So, what was happening there then?" Sasuke had sat back down again, looking at his feet as he refused to look up at any of them.

Kakashi sighed. "They were testing on humans and as for the purpose..." He frowned looking behind him again. "We're still not sure ourselves."

"This isn't a joke is it? Others joining in on your conspiracy theory?"

Kakashi shook his head. "You've seen what these two can do and you still think that maybe this is all a joke? And you know I wouldn't joke about something like this...especially not with you."

Sasuke looked up again, his eyes going to Gaara and Naruto for a split second before turning to Kakashi. "What is it exactly they can do? Or should I say, how?"

Naruto piped up then, slightly impatient and annoyed at the fact that they were being ignored in a conversation about them. "We can do a variety of things but each of the kinds tested on had a different ability from the others. I heal easily whereas Gaara has speed for example. He can go so fast at points that all you can see is dust and sand." He smiled for a second before it disappeared, his face slightly pained. "So, how we got them was through...I think they said it was genetic changes." He frowned for a second; trying to remember the conversation he'd eavesdropped on. "Though other things were through experiments like..." His glance shifted to Gaara, wondering if he should say anything.

Gaara saw the look and sighed, continuing for him. "Like the fact that I don't have much emotion or memories from before I went in there." He looked over at Kakashi, alliterating this point without even meaning to. "Are we done yet?"

Kakashi looked over at Sasuke. "Any more questions?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke hadn't looked at Naruto while he had spoken, a point that Naruto had noticed and he still remained to look away from him, choosing to stare at the wall instead now. "You know I had a right to know."

Kakashi frowned as he thought. "We thought it best not to tell anyone, it is an investigation after all and I was worried how you would react."

"You told me about your theories quickly enough before." Sasuke glared at him.

Jiraiya, who at that moment had decided to check up on all of them, frowned from the doorway. "Kakashi, how much did you tell him?"

Kakashi sighed exasperated. "I didn't tell him willingly. He eavesdropped on a conversation and then wouldn't leave me alone until I told him."

Jiraiya looked amused. "He made you tell him?" He shook his head. "But still, you shouldn't give information out, you know that."

Kakashi pouted. "He was a persistent brat...still is to be honest." He grinned at Sasuke. "And anyway, it wasn't information because you decided at that time that my 'conspiracy theory' wasn't worth investigating."

"Alright, alrig-"

Sasuke stood up, cutting off the conversation between Kakashi and Jiraiya. "I should get back. Thanks." He walked off without looking back.

"Wait, Sasuke." Naruto watched from his seat as he was ignored, anger bubbling through him at the way his friend was brushing him off. He stood up, ignoring those around him who told him that he shouldn't be moving around yet and walked quickly after Sasuke.

Kakashi sighed, watching Naruto walk off before turning to Gaara who was also standing up, ready to leave, though not in as much of a hurry as Naruto. Kakashi frowned at the look on his face. "Gaara, you OK?"

Gaara looked at him, nodding slowly before shuffling off towards the door.

Kakashi's frown deepened. "Gaara, I think we should talk, you don't look right."

Gaara shrugged. "Whatever, I'll be outside." He disappeared through the door, his face dejected.

~Meanwhile~

Naruto caught up with Sasuke just as he went outside. He grabbed him as the door closed behind them, pinning him to the wall, his eyes angry and hurt. "What? Are you suddenly too good for us? Are you disgusted by me and Gaara? Are you..." He couldn't continue. His heart hurt from the fact that he'd been brushed off so easily by his friend as if he meant nothing, as if he was just someone to walk away from without a backwards glance.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, that's not it. I just need to get my head around everything." He struggled weakly in Naruto's arms, still not looking at him properly.

"Why? What is there to think about?" Naruto didn't understand at all what Sasuke could be thinking, all he knew was that it was hurting him a lot.

"The U&U lab..."

Naruto stopped his inner thoughts to listen properly, confused at what Sasuke meant. "Huh?"

Sasuke finally looked him in the eye, seemingly plucking up the courage to, his eyes showing a multitude of emotions to Naruto. Guilt, confusion, pain flashed through before Naruto's eyes. "The U&U lab...was run by the Uchiha family...my family." Sasuke closed his eyes as if ready for Naruto to hit him.


	9. Mixed emotions and family issues

**A/N: I really should stop putting these when I only babble ^^; but anyway~ Yay~ A longer chapter ^^ I decided to put two chapters together because otherwise they'd be really short on their own. Just thought I'd say~**

**Oh yeah~ and i want to say thanks to people ^0^ everytime I put a new chapter up I seem to get comments and favouriting, believe me it's still a shock everytime but a very nice shock :) so thank you thank you thank you ^^ *hugs people (well, except people who don't like hugs, cos that would just be mean)***

* * *

"What?" Naruto froze for a second, his hand that was holding Sasuke up against the wall going limp making Sasuke fall to the ground, having not expected the movement. Naruto took a step back, his eyes widening in fear, though confusion also showed through as he fought with his natural instinct to run from anything that involved the lab because of him small friendship with the boy in front of him. He thought it through for a second, trying to make sense, looking down at Sasuke all the while, trying to tell by his expression what he was thinking.

Sasuke looked up and gulped at the penetrating look he was receiving and instantly looked at the ground, wishing that Naruto would just get angry at him and be done with it.

Naruto carried on staring at Sasuke and sighed inwardly, slightly in relief. He could tell from Sasuke's body language that he hadn't known about what had been happening at the lab; otherwise he would have been this guilty before. It took him a second to remember his words back in the police station _'It was a research centre...on animals."_. Naruto knelt down beside Sasuke, a slight frown on his face. He could feel the guilt emanating from Sasuke but there was something else there too, a raw pain that showed on his face no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. "Sasuke, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"I don't know...I don't know anything anymore..."

Naruto had to strain to hear the words muttered, Sasuke seeming to talk to himself more than to Naruto. "Sasuke?" Naruto sighed and stood up, offering his hand to Sasuke. "Come on, there's no point sitting around out here, we'll just get cold." He grinned down. "My turn to invite you over to mine, it's closer than your house."

Sasuke mentally shook himself, finally coming back to reality and noticing Naruto's outstretched hand. He looked up sheepishly. "You're not going to beat the hell out of me?"

Naruto shook his head, smiling. "What have you done wrong?"

"But-"

"But I do want an explanation for the way you're acting now." Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him up before he could finish his sentence. "Is that OK?"

Sasuke nodded silently, knowing that even if the information hurt to think about Naruto had a right to know now. "I'm glad I told you on your own. I don't think Gaara would have been so forgiving."

Naruto chuckled, dragging Sasuke along behind him as he walked towards his home. "Gaara would have calmed down quickly enough if you'd said it in front of him, I'm sure."

Sasuke snorted at the faith Naruto had in Gaara, though knowing how much they trusted each other he decided not to say anything about it. "You know it's going to be a long story, right?"

Naruto laughed again, still dragging Sasuke along. "Yeah, I thought it might be...and? What's the problem? You can just stay over at mine." He'd heard Kiba talking about something called a 'sleepover' before and he'd always wanted to have one since he'd heard.

Sasuke laughed, Naruto's grin being contagious and finally alleviating the pain and guilt that he felt completely. "Sure, there's no problem I guess."

It wasn't until they were back at the flat that Sasuke's panic started again. He hadn't told anyone his story other than police questioning and witness statements. He coughed awkwardly once they had entered, looking Naruto up and down. "Hey, Naruto, you never did get changed after you got wet. You really should..." He paused at the look he received.

"Don't try and change the subject." Naruto walked through the small hallway, bypassing the kitchen and entering the bedroom, plopping down on his bed before gesturing to Sasuke to sit down on Gaara's, which he did gingerly. "Now then, what's going on Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed, beginning to fidget under Naruto's gaze. "Well, uhh...you see..." He licked his lips, his mouth dry under the scrutiny.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head before leaning forward. "Fine, how about I start with a question then?" When he received the affirmative, he continued. "You said your family ran the lab but...didn't you say you were alone...that your parents were dead, so how does that work?"

Sasuke blinked for a second, shocked that Naruto had put all that together. "Oh, damn, I knew I forgot to ask something back at the station. Yeah, my family's dead. They died...5 years ago I think it was. That's when the laboratory was meant to have been shut down because of the mass breakout of animals. I should have asked Kakashi about the lab still running after all this time." He trailed off for a second, thoughtful.

Naruto frowned. "I've vaguely heard about that. It was the first night we got out of the lab...Kakashi said something about a case being closed..."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, the scientists that died were my family..." His fist tightened, an angry flare sparking in his eyes. "The case was closed because there were no witnesses, only insubstantial evidence." The spark dimmed as it was clouded with doubt. "Oh wait...that might not be such a problem now." He looked up at Naruto's perplexed facial expression and continued. "Sorry, I really don't know what to think now but I'll tell this how I always thought was the truth and then we'll talk about what I learnt today. I think it will be easier that way, OK?" He smiled as he received a nod somehow feeling relaxed about talking now. "Five years ago, my brother graduated from University. He was finally able to join my dad in his research, everyone was so proud..."

Naruto coughed as Sasuke seemed to go into his own little world again. "And?"

"This is relevant I promise." Sasuke snapped out of his reverie. "My brother...Itachi..." It took him a moment to say his name, having stopped himself for so long. "He entered the lab for the first time...and then a week later everything was gone."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at him, confused.

"That's all there is if you look at the evidence the police compiled. All that is known is that my brother entered the work force there and then a week later there was a mass breakout of the animals and that some scientists were killed in the process. If it weren't for policemen like Kakashi it would have probably been ruled out as a freak accident from the beginning but there were inconsistencies." Sasuke held up his hand, counting off. "The 'animals' couldn't have escaped without human help, all the scientists that died had the second name 'Uchiha' or were in the vicinity of the breakout, leaving no witnesses and the murders of the scientists weren't primitive enough to just be claw marks."

Naruto nodded along with him, taking everything in. "So, you think it was your brother? Then why-"

"Why hasn't he been caught?" Sasuke interrupted him, shaking his head. "They never found him afterwards, he disappeared without a trace. The thing I never understood was that the animals also disappeared without a trace, the police found nothing. But now I know why I guess."

"What?"

Sasuke frowned at Naruto, realising he really hadn't come to the same conclusion as he had. "There never were any animals there to begin with...are you sure we're talking about the same place here? Because surely you should know this?"

Naruto shrugged. "Kakashi's the one that said it was the same place. To be honest we never saw out of the small building we were in. I didn't even know there were any other experiments taking place. Human or otherwise."

Sasuke nodded, feeling guilt and pity well up at those words but kept it down. "OK, sorry. What I mean is that..." He looked down at his hands. "I've been so angry at my big brother all these years and I never knew why he did it. I kept trying to reason it out over and over in my head but now I know. It's because he found out our family did something monstrous. Now I don't know if I can hate him like I did and that's completely knocked me. It's been the one constant in the last few years." He looked up at Naruto again. "I really am sorry for everything you've had to go through."

Naruto came and sat beside him, giving him a hug, not knowing how else to comfort someone. "What are you saying, stupid? It's not your fault. You knew nothing about it."

"Yeah, but-"

"No, I won't hear another word like that." Naruto pulled away, grinning. "We're friends right?" He held out his hand.

Sasuke blinked before grabbing Naruto's hand. "Yeah, I guess."

Naruto laughed, sticking his hand out. "You're still a bastard though."

"You're still a moron." Sasuke laughed at Naruto's pout before they both went silent, not knowing now what to say, though it was a comfortable silence, one which held no more secrets.

"You still want to stay over?"

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who had just checked the time and noticed the slightly hopeful note that he had to his voice. He looked around; measuring the room and wondering how much space there would be if the two beds were pushed up against the wall. "This might be presumptive of me but...how about we invite Kiba and everyone round and have a proper sleepover?"

"A proper sleepover?" Naruto's eyes lit up as he was already reaching for his phone.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I think you should have one." His smile waned slightly. "And I think Gaara could use a relax moment. Did you ever get to talk to him about how he sounded on the phone?"

Naruto froze before shaking his head, going completely silent as he thought about it.

Sasuke winced, realising he'd made Naruto worry. "See? I think he could use a break, and a little sleepover would do the trick."

"Really?"

Sasuke nodded. "Really."

* * *

~Half an hour earlier on the police station roof~

"This is where you got to." Kakashi panted as he finally got himself up onto the roof, his face bemused as he watched Gaara lying watching the sky. "What are you doing up here?"

Gaara shrugged. "It's quiet up here and I like the stars." He continued staring up at the sky, the only acknowledgement that he knew Kakashi was there was from his words.

Kakashi nodded and sat down beside him, watching Gaara's facial expressions before sighing, not able to discern what was troubling him. "What are you thinking about, Gaara?"

"My purpose, I guess."

Kakashi tilted his head, not having expected this. "Your purpose?"

Gaara nodded, still watching the sky, his face frowning slightly in concentration. "Yes, what is it? I guess I had a purpose in the lab but now out here...what's my purpose?" He looked over at Kakashi as if he held the answer, wondering if there really was a place and a purpose for him out here just like he'd had in the lab, even if he had never been told what that purpose was.

Kakashi shrugged. "Whatever you want it to be. Out here your purpose is completely up to you. What do you think it is?"

"If I knew that, why would I be asking you?" Gaara turned back to look at the sky.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head. "OK then, what's the most important thing to you right now?"

"Looking after Naruto." Gaara blinked at himself, shocked at how fast the words had come out of his mouth.

Kakashi nodded, this answer he had expected, though he was slightly amused at the shock on Gaara's face as if he himself hadn't realised. "Well then, if you really feel the need to have a purpose, think of that as your purpose for now. But things can always change, not even a purpose is set in stone. You'll find other things important to you as you grow up and you'll find your own path." He chuckled as he realised he was giving a lecture about growing up when he still didn't think he'd grown up completely.

Gaara frowned, though he nodded that he understood to Kakashi. "Kakashi...why do I feel like looking after Naruto so much?"

Kakashi froze, not knowing what he would be getting himself into here. "Well...it's love whichever way you think about it." He cringed at how corny that sounded. "It just depends what kind, whether you think of him as family or something more."

"And how would I know that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Only you would know what the feeling is. I'm sorry if you find that hard but it's the truth. I guess you can think of it against how you view your real siblings. Do you want to protect them as much?"

"Protect them?" Gaara hadn't thought of that before, he'd never thought of them in danger. He twitched slightly as he wondered about them going through what he and Naruto had. "I guess I want to protect them...but it's not as strong a feeling." Gaara shook his head, going back to his stoic expression. "Whatever, I guess I can figure it out some when."

Kakashi chuckled. "For the amount of expression you show on your face it's quite funny how much you really think and feel." He smiled reassuringly as Gaara looked over at him, perplexed. "I'll take it that all of this is brought on by your conversation you had with your family?"

"How did you-" Gaara stopped himself, annoyed that he'd given himself away and shown his emotion.

"Know? Because you said nothing about them when I asked what was important to you." Kakashi settled down properly next to Gaara. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"They think I'm a monster." Gaara sighed, flopping back down again as well. "As soon as I told them everything they made an excuse and left as fast as they could." Though he spoke nonchalantly, his voice held a hint of sadness.

"They probably don't think you're a monster but I guess it's true that they'd be a bit scared. Have you tried putting yourself in their shoes?"

"Putting on their shoes? How would that help?" Gaara turned to Kakashi, not understanding the context at all. "And I don't think they'd fit either."

Kakashi tried not to laugh. "Sorry, it's an expression. I mean have you tried to empathise with them?"

"Empathise?"

"Think about being in their position. You lost your brother years ago, you think he must be dead after all these years and then suddenly you find him again and your nervous and worried but also excited and so happy that you were wrong for all these years. But when you finally meet your brother he's different from the way he was before and then he tells you the horrid events he's been through in the years he's been missing and what's been done to him." He looked over at Gaara's concentrating face. "Now tell me, how do you feel at that moment?"

Gaara muttered out the words as he thought everything through, placing himself in his siblings' shoes and replacing himself with Naruto, that person being the easiest for him to think about in this situation and as family. "I guess I'd be frightened of what my brother had become...but I'd also feel bad for feeling that because he was my brother and I shouldn't be scared of him. I guess I'd pity him as well."

Kakashi clapped, not sarcastically but in actual shock at how fast Gaara had grasped the situation even though his emotions had been all but switched off at the lab. He began to wonder if Gaara was slowly becoming more 'human' as he spent time outside of the lab. "Well done, excellent. So, are you as hurt by how your siblings reacted now?"

Gaara shook his head slowly, still thinking. "I guess not but why did they leave? Surely they should have thought about how I felt in this situation?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, I guess so and they have done wrong here. But at the same time, you've only just thought how they feel, so what's to say they've only just realised how you would feel with them just leaving? And anyway think about all those feeling you said you felt when you were empathising. The fear, the guilt and the pity, if you felt all of them at one time what would you do?"

"I guess I'd want to run away and have time to think." Gaara paused, shocked at his own words as he realised he'd been made to answer his own question. "Ahh, I see." He looked over at Kakashi. "Thanks, now I understand."

"Good, so now hopefully you'll know that they don't think of you as a monster." Kakashi sat up and stretched.

"Yeah, maybe. I guess we'll see." Gaara sat up as well, wondering what he should do now. He had noticed Naruto and Sasuke walk off earlier and he didn't know whether he should go home or not, he didn't want to disturb them. He sighed softly. In his eyes he was still struggling to find his place here, whereas Naruto fitted right in. He began to doubt whether Naruto really needed him the way he needed Naruto.

"Shouldn't you be getting home soon? Naruto will worry." Kakashi piped up, not noticing the internal debate Gaara was having.

"Yeah...I guess." Gaara began to slide himself off the roof, not bothering with the ladder that Kakashi had used to get up, earning a 'tut' from behind him as he landed on the ground with a soft 'oomph'. He looked up and waved at Kakashi. "Thanks for everything."

"Whatever, just get going and stop worrying, k?" Kakashi laid back down on the roof, deciding to relax for a bit longer until someone found him and told him to get back to work.

Gaara began to walk down to the flat, taking as long as possible in his attempt to keep away. He jumped as he heard his phone ring before smiling softly at the welcome distraction. He frowned as he noticed Sasuke's number. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Gaara! Where are you?"_

Gaara blinked as Naruto's voice echoed down the phone before remembering that Naruto's mobile had run out of charge earlier in the evening. "I'm on my way, why?"

"_Cool! It's because I'm having a sleepover with everyone...I hope that's alright."_

Gaara nodded before remembering that Naruto couldn't see him. "Sure. Why wouldn't it be?" He paused for a second taking the information in and then feeling slightly hurt at the conclusion he came to. "Do you want me to stay with my family for the night then?"

"_Huh? What are you talking about? You don't think we'd leave you out do you?"_

Gaara stopped at the indignation he heard in Naruto's voice. "Huh? But I thought maybe-"

"_That you weren't invited?"_ There was a slight click and the voice went quieter on the headset as Naruto called out into the room he was in. _"Hey guys, Gaara thought he wasn't invited."_

"_That's stupid."_

A soft voice filtered through the headset which Gaara dimly recognised as Sasuke's.

"_Hey give me that-"_

Gaara heard a slight scuffle on the other end of the call before Kiba's voice replaced Naruto's.

"_Hey Gaara, get down here! You're part of this gang to you know."_

The phone call was disconnected before Gaara had a chance to reply. He looked down at the phone in his hand; shocked at the friendly response he'd received, having expected all of Naruto's friends to be, well, just that - Naruto's friends, not his friends. He blinked before a smile spread across his face and then he was running. Running back to his home and the friends he had made without really noticing it.

Maybe he had found his place after all.


	10. Watching shadows

A/N: Ughh =_= Sorry guys, I know I said a week and I could rally off excuses but you don't really want to hear them so yeah, on with the fic. Sorry for yet another delay.

* * *

"Tell me again why you thought this would be a good idea?" Sasuke sighed, rubbing his temples with his hand as he tried to curb his growing annoyance at the hyperactive being before him.

"Come on, Sasuke." Kiba whined at him, his hands behind him, still trying to hide what was there even though he'd been caught. "We can't have an awesome sleep over without alcohol." He brought forward the pack of beers he was holding. "It's like tradition to have it."

"Why?"

"Because we're not meant to have it."

Sasuke was very tempted to smack the smug smile off of Kiba's face. Luckily for Kiba, the two of them were interrupted.

"I second the Uchiha." Neji turned from where he'd been helping Naruto set up the bedding for the evening. He nodded his head behind him to Lee, the last member of the sleepover, Shikamaru and Chouji already having made plans together and Shino having family over for the night. "There is no way I want Lee drinking anything."

Kiba tilted his head, pouting at the fact that he wasn't allowed to drink. "Why can't Lee drink?"

"He's a very bad drunk." Neji shivered as if it brought back horrible memories.

Sasuke nodded, happy that he had someone on his side in this argument. "And besides-" He cut himself off realising that he couldn't tell them he didn't know what would happen if Gaara and Naruto got drunk. He looked up at Kiba's expectant look, glad that he was good with coming up with excuses. He got close to Kiba so that no-one else but him and Neji could hear. "If Lee's a bad drunk, what do you expect Gaara would be like?"

Kiba paled slightly at the thought before a shiver ran down his spine. He had just heard a giggle behind him. "What the-?"

Spinning around, the three were faced with a sight they never thought they'd see. Namely Gaara with a grin on his face and a small giggle emanating from him every few moments along with a hiccup.

Kiba looked down at the six-pack of beers he'd been holding, noticing finally that two were missing. "When did he take them?" He noted that Gaara still had one in his hands; the other discarded and cocked an eyebrow. "You got like that after one can?"

"My point exactly." Sasuke took the rest of the beers from Kiba. "So how about we don't give him anymore to drink."

"What about the one he's still got?"

Sasuke gave Kiba an incredulous look. "You wanna take it from him?"

Kiba shook his head quickly, his face once again paling at the thought of trying to wrestle the can from drunken Gaara's grip.

"Right then, let's just leave it as it is and hope he falls asleep quickly."

* * *

~Hours later~

Naruto sat up frowning. Ever since Gaara had given him something to drink, Naruto having taken it instantly from him in wonder after how giddy Gaara had gotten from it, he'd been wide awake. Even after everyone else had fallen asleep he couldn't do the same no matter what he tried. He pouted; everyone had said they were going to stay up all night because that's what you did at a sleepover, which had confused him a lot. If that was so, why was it called a sleepover? He shrugged, not really caring that much, only caring that his friends had somehow broken the rules to said 'sleepover'. He looked around, noticing Kiba's laptop was still on, a contraption he'd gotten used to after all his IT lessons. Kiba had decided he couldn't be without it even for a night so here it stood in Naruto's sight. A grin took over his face as he plotted. Obviously he needed to get his friends back for not keeping to the rules. He got up quietly, heading to a draw full of stationary before turning to the computer after he had retrieved what he wanted. Opening the internet he began to scroll through pictures for some inspiration.

~The next morning~

* * *

Lee sat up and the stumbled to the bathroom, the rest of the boys grumbling and groaning awake as he tried his hardest not to step on them.

Sasuke sat up and stretched, shocked at how well he'd slept. He looked around the room and instantly grew worried. He could see Naruto grinning from ear to ear as he watched the rest of them slowly wake up, instantly making Sasuke suspicious. "Naruto, what have you done?"

Naruto looked over to him with an innocent face, one Sasuke saw through easily. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?"

Before Sasuke could answer, a gasp from the other side of the room caught his attention as the other boys finally woke up to a coherent level.

Kiba burst out laughing, staring at Neji. "Dude, what happened to you?"

Neji looked worried, having been the one that gasped when he looked at Kiba. "Why? What have I got on me? Because if you're anything to go by I'm worried."

"Huh?" Kiba blinked, wondering what was going on. It took him a minute of continuous flailing as he tried to look at his own face at whatever Neji was staring at before giving up and turning to Naruto. "Naruto, do you have a mirror?"

Naruto nodded, pointing to the bedside table. Iruka had bought it for them after the amounts of times they'd wandered into school without caring what they looked like and thought it might help.

Kiba stretched as he got up before grabbing the mirror. He stared at himself for a few seconds in disbelief before laughing. "You know what? I quite like it; maybe I should get these as tattoos when I'm older." He angled the mirror to have another look at himself, quite pleased with the two red triangles that ran down under his eyes. "They kind of remind me of fangs for some reason."

Neji lifted an eyebrow. "Really? You like it?" He shrugged, noting that the other boy had strange tastes before prodding him for the mirror. "I want to see what's on me. Give it."

Kiba passed over the mirror. "Your one's on your forehead, but I think it's quite cool as well."

"My forehead?" Neji still worried peeked into the mirror, moving his head so that he could glance up at his forehead properly in the small mirror. He blinked a few times. "It's green."

Kiba cracked up at the expression on his face. "Dude, do you have to look so surprised? Is it that bad?"

Neji shrugged. "No, it'll wash off soon enough. And I guess it's quite different, I could get used to it I guess." He tilted his head again to have a better look, the green 'tattoo' spreading all the way across his forehead. He looked over at Sasuke, Naruto and Gaara, who was still curled up under the duvet, his head hurting slightly. "I feel like asking which one of you did it but I think it's obvious." His eyes trained on Naruto for a second before looking at the other two. "The only thing is, what do you two have on you?"

Sasuke looked down worriedly but couldn't see anything. He looked back at the other two, who were equally perplexed, so he knew there wasn't anything on his face.

"Stand up, maybe?"

Sasuke stood at Neji's suggestion and turned slowly, not seeing anything on his legs.

"There!" Kiba shouted triumphantly.

Sasuke stopped, looking over at Kiba. "Where?"

"On your shoulder, here..." He came up behind Sasuke, holding the mirror so that Sasuke could see the small black marking near his neck.

Sasuke frowned. "What are they? Three commas?" He shrugged before flopping back down. "Whatever, at least it's black." He turned to the pile of duvet that was Gaara. "What about you Gaara?"

"Hmm?" Gaara sat up, blinking away sleep as he did so, not really having heard the conversation in his half asleep state. He shook his head a few times, his hair flicking away from his forehead for a second.

"There!" Another triumphant call from Kiba rang out as he pointed at Gaara's forehead.

Gaara looked at him dazed. "Huh?"

Kiba ran over and was about to push Gaara's hair out of the way but thought better of it as he saw the glare he received for even stepping in the redhead's personal space especially when he was half asleep and feeling the after effects from the beer he'd stolen from Kiba. Kiba pointed again, holding up the mirror. "Under your hair, there's something on your forehead."

Gaara frowned, pushing up his hair to see a bright red character on one side of his forehead. He dropped his hand before flopping back into bed, not caring enough to comment.

Kiba blinked. "That's it?"

"Mhmm."

Kiba stepped back after he realised that was going to be his only response.

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms. "You guys are no fun! You weren't meant to like them."

Neji smirked. "OK, I knew it was you already but you did just give yourself away."

Sasuke couldn't resist smirking along with him at Naruto's blank expression.

Kiba found the black marker that Naruto had used on them and grinned mischievously. "Hey guys, should we get him back?"

Neji and Sasuke looked at each other for a second before nodding and launching themselves over, grabbing Naruto by the arms, while Kiba began to draw.

Naruto gasped, laughing as the pen tickles his navel. "S-stop it guys! Gaara, make them stop!" He turned to his friend only to flop in disappointment as he noticed he'd fallen back to sleep. He looked down when Kiba was finished, rubbing a finger along the large swirling pattern that littered his stomach. "This is kind of cool actually."

Neji sighed as he sat up. "Well our revenge plan didn't work. Now what?"

Before either of the others could reply a scream emanated from the bathroom.

Neji turned to Naruto with his eyebrow raised again. "What the hell did you do?"

Naruto looked up sheepishly. "I just made his bushy eyebrows reach up to his hairline."

Neji smirked again, now having a plan of his own. "Lee, you OK in there?"

"No, I'm not!" Lee's annoyed voice echoed out of the bathroom.

"Naruto did it." Neji smirked as he looked over at a paling Naruto.

"That's just mean, Neji!"

* * *

-Meanwhile-

Two figures stood at the bottom of the flats that Naruto and Gaara occupied, being able to hear the ruckus that was occurring from down there as they looked up at the open window of their flat.

One flicked open his phone, dialling one of only a few numbers that occupied it, his red eyes skimming the area as he waited for the person at the other end to pick up.

The line clicked. "Yes?"

"We've found the last two."

"Good, get into position then, the rest of us will arrive soon, just waiting for confirmation about the capture for the last one. Stay alert, these two are meant to be strong." The line clicked off again.

The man flicked the phone down again, slipping it into the pocket of his black and red jacket. "Come on Kisame, they're not going anywhere at the moment, let's find a place where we can keep an eye on them from until the others arrive."

Kisame shrugged at him before turning around and beginning to walk off, his face covered by a hood and his hands in his pockets to hide the blue hue of his skin. "Whatever, Itachi."

Itachi stood for a moment longer, looking up at the window, before following Kisame, a soft smile spreading across his lips. "We meet again little brother."

* * *

A/N: I Know it's obvious but I thought I should state it. All of Naruto's drawing are - Kiba's fang markings, Neji's submission seal, Sasuke's curse mark and Gaara's 'love' kanji tattoo(?) and Naruto's kyubi seal is what the others drew. Lee's was just for a laugh ^^;


	11. Experiment: Dawn

**A/N: OK, this time I have to say it. Last time I said you wouldn't want to hear excuses and I guess you don't but...last time my pc was crashing every few minutes, now it's died completely. I finally got it on a little while ago and transferred everything off of it onto another pc which means I have all my stories again *yay* so yeah I just wanted to say that ^^**

* * *

Naruto yawned as he walked up to the school gates, Gaara just behind him. Naruto looked around at Gaara. "Are you sure you don't want to wash that off?"

Gaara shrugged, touching the small red felt tipped drawing on his forehead that he'd made Naruto redraw. "I like it."

"You like it?" Naruto paused as he looked at Gaara with a frown.

"Yeah, that a problem?" Gaara looked slightly put out at the way Naruto was acting.

Naruto grinned. "No, it's just there's not a lot of stuff you actually like so I was shocked."

Gaara shrugged again before looking back towards the gate, a glare gracing his face as he noticed they were being stared at.

"Gaara?" Naruto looked to where Gaara was looking, confused at the sudden change. It didn't take him long to notice the two men watching them. "Let's just ignore them OK? Let's not start a fight or anything?" Naruto had noticed Gaara getting tense and knew it would not be good to start a fight here just for being stared at.

Gaara nodded though he kept his eye on them as they were about to walk past.

"Naruto?"

Naruto froze and looked back, Gaara not far behind him.

Gaara's glare deepened. "You know them?"

"No. At least I don't think so." Naruto frowned as he stepped forward, towards the men. "Do I know you?"

The man in front of him smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes and for some reason Naruto thought he looked familiar but only for a second. "No, but we know you." He motioned to the man behind him. "And you, Gaara." His smile extended to Gaara who tensed in return. "Would you mind coming with us for a bit?"

"No, sorry we can't. We've got school." Naruto replied coldly, not liking where this was heading. "Come on Gaara, let's go." The man who hadn't spoken yet made him pause when he snorted at them.

"Good little boys, aren't you?" The man grinned, though the boys couldn't see his face. He was shut up with a look from the other man who turned back to smile at the two. "We'd just like a word and you do owe us a favour."

"What? Why?" Naruto blinked at him shocked, not understanding at all.

"It's because of us that you could get out of the laboratory so easily."

* * *

~In school~

"Where are Gaara and Naruto?" Iruka looked up from his register, frowning. There was no way he wouldn't have been told if one of them was ill and he couldn't see them skiving. "Has anyone seen them today?"

There was a mostly negative reply which had Iruka's frown deepening before Sakura raised her hand. "I saw them outside the school but they were talking to some people. It looked serious so I didn't intrude."

"Some people?"

Sakura nodded. "Never seen them before but one of them…" She blinked as if realising. "That's what's been bugging me! He had Sasuke's stare, I thought I recognised something about him."

"Huh?" Sasuke finally looked up, having been worrying himself about where the other two were.

Sakura shrugged. "Sorry but he reminded me of you."

Sasuke frowned at this comment, unnerved but not knowing why by it. It took a second for his mind to take a drastic turn but he shook his head, there was no way he'd be here now…was there? He paused for a second, knowing there was a way to find out but he knew that he would have to destroy his pride to do it. In his bag there was an old photo, just one that he'd never got round to taking out he had always told himself. A photo of him and his family. He took it out slowly, knowing that he would never hear the end of it if he was wrong but it would be worth it if he was right. He folded in half and wrote 'pass to Sakura' on it before nudging the person ahead of him and giving it to him.

Two seconds later. "That's him!" That was all Sasuke needed to hear.

"Sakura, what are you-?" Iruka stopped as he watched Sasuke dart out of the room. "Sasuke?" He peered around the door as he disappeared down the corridor.

Sasuke's voice echoed back. "Call Kakashi!"

Iruka frowned, not understanding but did as Sasuke said, knowing that he was serious. "Sorry guys, this will only take a second." Not that the kids minded in the slightest and probably wouldn't have listened anyway after seeing Sasuke run off like that.

"Iruka? Now's not a good time." Iruka heard a tired and frustrated sigh down the end of the phone. "Some of the kids that were with Naruto and Gaara have gone missing again and no one thought to tell us. Stupid, god damn-"

"Stop, Kakashi." Iruka decided it was best to stop the tirade now before Kakashi got really annoyed.

"Sorry, rough day. You wanted something?"

"Well, actually…" Iruka coughed, wondering what to do now, his worries increasing.

"Iruka? What's wrong?"

"Naruto and Gaara aren't here."

"They're what!"

Iruka winced and held the phone away, noticing that the class went silent after hearing the shout.

"Shit! I'm going to go look for them then, we can't be too careful. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"No, sorry but I know that Sasuke's gone to look for them."

"Right, try not to let any of the other kids go; we don't know what we're up against here."

Iruka nodded, glad that the other pupils couldn't hear them now that Kakashi had stopped shouting. "OK, ring me if anything happens OK?"

"K."

Iruka pulled the phone away from his ear as Kakashi hung up and stared at it for a while.

"Are Gaara and Naruto in trouble?"

Iruka looked up at the class seeing the worried glances and would have felt proud that Gaara and Naruto had fitted in so well and that their classmates cared about their safety if it wasn't for the situation. He smiled, trying hard to push the negative thoughts out of his head. "No, everything's going to be fine."

* * *

"So are you going to tell us or what?" Naruto tried to look unfazed by everything but he couldn't help looking round as he noticed that there were more people than just the two that had been first talking to though he couldn't make out any features under the hoods they wore. He could feel Gaara tensing up beside him, ready for a fight and he was hoping they wouldn't have to choose that option if they decided they wanted to leave."How do we owe you a favour?"

Itachi smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Let's first get to know each other. We're 'Akatsuki'."

"And you think we care because…?"

Itachi sighed. "You should care. We choose that name in honour of what had happened to us." He paused and looked around. "Well, them I should say, I was a volunteer." He took off the sunglasses that had been hiding his eyes, not that the two had really paid attention to what they were wearing, showing the blood red irises underneath.

"I don't understand." Naruto tried to look away from the disgusting sight but felt drawn to it as if morbidly curious.

"We're experiment: Dawn. Your predecessors, you could say."

Naruto blanched as the other members of the group pulled down their hoods showing themselves for what they were, genetic mutations. Naruto looked around them in shock. "But we don't look like that…" He hadn't meant to say anything, it had just slipped out.

"That's because we were the prototypes, you could say." Kisame grinned at him, his sharpened teeth showing through. "Also the genetic experiments don't work as well on adults."

"Why?" They all paused as Gaara spoke up, who seemed less threatened now. "Why were you…we tested on?"

"We were tested on because we were easy to obtain." A blonde man smirked from the back, leaning against a wall. "No one cares if criminals expecting the death penalty disappear, as long as they haven't escaped of course." His smirk widened.

"But you escaped from the facility." Naruto spoke, clicking it all together in his head, remembering his conversation with Sasuke and having a foreboding feeling about why he'd found the man with red eyes familiar. "So when you said that you made it easier for us to escape…?"

Itachi nodded. "We destroyed everything as we left. All the security systems, anything we could get our hands on. As the facility had to pretend it had shut down they couldn't pay for a new system to be installed without it looking suspicious. So you were able to escape with minimal hassle, correct?"

Naruto nodded slightly, there had been trouble but only after they'd got out of the laboratory.

Itachi continued talking. "We would have brought you with us when we escaped if we'd known you guys were there. You were being held very secretly. I had only heard mention of you children, for all we knew you were all in a different facility."

Naruto nodded again, not convinced but at the same time not angry at the men in front of him. He shivered slightly as he remembered the laboratory and everything they'd gone through there and decided to see what these people knew. "But as Gaara said, why? What was the purpose of us all being experimented on?"

"You don't know, Naruto?" Itachi blinked, trying not to show his shock though Naruto saw it for a split second.

"Huh? Why would I?"

Itachi frowned. "You were the first experiment, Naruto. Well not the first experimented on but the first one to be kept in the facility."

"Huh?" Naruto's eyebrows rose, not understanding.

"You're the reason for the experiments."

* * *

**A/N: Just thought I'd put~ I looked up the word Akatsuki and it apparently means 'Dawn' or 'Daybreak' which instantly got my brain ticking over them being the first group of experiments. ^.^**


	12. Naruto's beginning

**A/N: I'm really not good at this am I? *sighs* I hope I haven't made people angry by how long I take to update and I hope this isn't a disappointment after the long wait~**

* * *

"What do you mean 'I'm the reason'?" Naruto shook his head, trying to comprehend the words echoing through his head. He looked to Gaara for support but only saw the same confused look mirrored back at him, along with some doubt which left a stabbing pain in Naruto's chest. He shook his head, hoping Gaara would believe him. "I don't know what he's talking about Gaara, honest."

Gaara frowned, puzzled as he thought things through. "From what I remember, the first day I was taken there all the kids were older than me...except you Naruto."

"Maybe I'd only just been taken in a little while before you?" Naruto looked down at the ground, hurt that Gaara was suspicious of him. "I don't remember anything before the laboratory, just like you don't Gaara."

"Not _just_ like actually." Itachi cut in. "Most of the others are slowly remembering what life was like before they were taken." He looked over at Gaara, only mildly interested. "I'm guessing you have as well?"

Gaara nodded. "A bit, nothing much."

"More than Naruto has, I bet." Itachi smirked at Naruto's confusion. "You shouldn't worry about it Naruto, you don't have any memories of before the lab because you've always been there."

"Always?"

Itachi nodded. "Apparently so, but you'd have to ask the people who worked there at the time more about that."

"That'd be kind of hard, wouldn't it, Itachi?"

Naruto turned around, Gaara unfazed by it all carried on looking at Akatsuki, in case they made any sudden movements. He blinked at the panting figure behind him. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke ignored him, instead glaring at his brother. "It'd be hard seeing as you killed them all, right, Itachi?" He looked around at the rest of Akatsuki disgustedly. "And your _friends_ of course."

Itachi blinked, shocked, before his smirk returned. "Well, not everyone, little brother. Some people weren't there." His smirk dropped slightly. "Odd, you don't look like you hate me as much as I expected you would."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his mind warring over what Naruto had told him about the lab and what he'd thought he'd known before. He decided it was best to ignore the remark, instead going for Itachi's answer. "So? Who wasn't there?"

Itachi's smirk widened again. "Actually, this makes it easier if you're here. You know more details than the boys here do." He gestured to Naruto and Gaara. "After all, our Father was one of the co-owners of the laboratory."

"Yeah, well Naruto already knew that and I'm assuming he told Gaara at some point." Sasuke blinked at the guilty look that passed across Naruto's face. "Or not as the case may be."

Gaara shrugged. "I don't really care as he's dead anyway." He frowned as he realised how bad that might have sounded. "I said that wrong, didn't I?" Not that he exactly cared about it.

"Yeah but I understand what you meant." Sasuke nodded towards him, understanding that had his father been alive he would have had to deal with Gaara for what he'd put them through.

"Wait, I remember you saying your family ran the laboratory, so your father owned it?" Naruto frowned.

"Only partly, the other owner didn't really do much research wise, he only funded it and he didn't come to the lab very often." Itachi cut in, feeling like he was being ignored.

The blonde at the back of the group kicked at the ground, his frustration and boredom showing through. "Oi, Itachi, this is taking too long. Can't we just get going already?"

"Shut up, Deidara." Itachi didn't even turn around towards him, knowing he'd go quiet quickly.

"So the other owner was?" Naruto turned to Sasuke, still not trusting the people in front of him.

Sasuke shrugged, perplexed himself. "I don't know."

"Really? You met him before, Sasuke." Itachi ignored the annoyed look he got from his younger brother. "He wanted you to become part of the experiment as well."

"What?" Naruto snapped at this, he didn't know why but the thought of Sasuke, or any of his other friends for that matter, having to go what he and Gaara had made his blood boil. "Why would he want that?"

Itachi's smirk widened as he pretended to ponder. "What was it he said? Something about helping our sons in the future..."

"_We have the means to make our sons stronger for the future, what's bad about that?"_

Sasuke froze as the words entered his head, the image from his younger self as he watched his father talk to someone he knew at the door, though for once they were rowing over something. He hadn't understood at the time and even now he wasn't sure he completely did.

"Oh, it looks like little Sasuke remembers him."

Sasuke looked up at his brother, trying to keep the glare there but doubt and confusion clouded it. "So? What is this all about? Why does any of this matter?"

"He has a point." Gaara yawned, his face expressionless. "So far your story is more to do with Sasuke, so can we go now?"

Itachi rolled his eyes, annoyance showing through. "I said _sons_,didn't I?" He glanced at Naruto as his words sunk in. "Why is it, Naruto, that they haven't been able to locate any family for you, I wonder?"

"My family put me there?" Naruto stared at the ground. All this time of wondering who his family were, to find out that they might have volunteered to have him taken away? The thought dug painfully into his chest.

"Your father did, but he obviously saw it as a good thing. Something that would help you later in life and he hoped our father would do the same." He looked over at Sasuke. "Our father refused, are you proud of him? He did however carry on experimenting on other children just as he was asked to."

"But why?" Naruto stopped the retort that Sasuke had been about to utter, not wanting to listen to the sibling fight right at this moment. "Why would he think it was a good thing?"

Itachi shrugged. "How would I know?" He looked around at his ever impatient 'friends' as Sasuke had called them. "Anyway, we have a proposition for you two."

"A proposition?" Gaara stared at him warily, tensing slightly.

"You do understand that if people found out about you, you'd be treated as monsters, right?"

"I guess." Gaara looked over at Naruto, who was still lost in thought and not really paying attention to the conversation.

"Well, why not just act like monsters?"

"Huh?" Gaara blinked at this, shocked, though he tried to keep his face impassive.

"Why act like something you're not? Act like how they've made you, strike back." Itachi's face was determined.

"The other seven kids have already agreed to join us, but we'd like the whole collection." Kisame grinned next to Itachi, watching for their reactions. "After all, you work better as a team."

"Not really, we've always been taught to attack each other."

"Only to get rid of the weak ones." Itachi sighed. "They didn't want weak emotion-filled kids; they wanted fighters that could kill dispassionately. Biological weapons that could be used whenever you were needed." He frowned. "Well mostly, obviously their experiments didn't work completely as you two definitely have emotions but that's not the point. Your genetics have been changed so that you each had a special component, designed to be effective in different circumstances, so that you were effective as a group." He gestured to those behind him. "Experiment Dawn, the prototype had the same tests done to them but the hold wasn't as strong. You children on the other hand looked completely normal after the tests and were much more stable DNA wise."

"I'm supposed to care?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, still not understanding where this was headed.

Itachi sighed. "I'll take that as a refusal of our kind offer?"

"Yeah, you should. It sounds boring anyway." Gaara turned to Naruto. "Right?"

"Huh?" Naruto turned, not having heard any of the conversation.

"He wants us to join them and 'strike back' or something." Gaara stared at Naruto, knowing that if Naruto chose to do as he said then he'd probably follow suit to look after him. "What do you think?"

Naruto let it all sink in for a second as he tried to understand what he'd missed in the conversation. "Sorry." Naruto turned to Itachi, grinning. "But I think we're happy as we are right now. Right?" He glanced at Gaara for confirmation.

"Yeah, I like things as they are." Gaara turned away from the group, looking past Sasuke. "Let's get back to school before Iruka goes frantic."

"I think he might have already." Sasuke stepped to the side so that when Naruto and Gaara came forward they could walk together. He stared at his brother though as he waited, he couldn't imagine that he would let them go that easily.

"That's a shame." Itachi shook his head while the others moved forward to intercept them.

"We didn't say you could leave, did we?" Kisame glared at Naruto and Gaara as they came to a halt and slowly turned back round.

Sasuke winced as his suspicions were confirmed.

"I didn't know we had to ask for permission." Gaara glared back at him, ready for a fight.

"Unfortunately for you, we were just trying to be friendly and offer."

"But forcing you is just as fun." Deidara grinned as he came forward.

"Then again, not a lot of force would be needed with these two." A red head looked at them dispassionately from where he stood beside Deidara.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto growled at the insult, slipping slowly into a fighting stance.

"He means we have ways of making you do what we want."

"Sasuke, I'd stand back." Naruto looked at him for a second until he was sure he was out of the way.

Gaara slipped into his fighting stance next to Naruto. "Whenever you're ready, Naruto."

"K." Naruto turned back to Akatsuki, a grin on his face. "Let's see what you've got then!" He ran forward, Gaara close behind, ready to shoot past him and leave a dust cloud in his wake. He frowned as none of those in front of them moved, until Itachi caught his eye, pulling something out of his pocket. It took only a few seconds for Gaara and him to come to a skidding halt.

"Naruto? Gaara?" Sasuke warily took a step forward, not understanding the sudden stop.

Naruto held his head, a shooting pain going through it making him shut his eyes. He opened them a crack to see Gaara trying as usual to be emotionless, though the wince of pain every so often and the way he clenched his teeth gave it away. "Does your head hurt, Gaara?"

"Something like that." Gaara glared forward, still trying to cope and carry on with his fighting.

Itachi grabbed their attention, shifting the object in his hand to the other. "I told you we had ways of making you do what we wanted."


	13. Control issues: A friend or distraction?

**A/N: An update? This quickly? I'm trying guys I promise ^^ I hope I can make up for all the times I've taken forever.**

* * *

"It wasn't only your memories and emotions that were taken when you were experimented on." Itachi watched unconcerned as Naruto and Gaara winced in pain ahead of him. "In fact, there was a small implant connected to your nervous system so that the scientists could control a certain aspect of you, if you can understand that."

Naruto gritted his teeth, his head pounding but he could also feel something else looming over him, a state that he had always tried to keep at bay but had had a habit of coming out when he was fighting in the arena at the lab when the fight was proving too difficult. He chanced a glance over at Gaara, knowing from what he had seen of his fights before that he was more than happy to let the change happen, though he was shocked to notice that Gaara was also trying to fight the urge at the moment. He glared up at Itachi and what he assumed was a remote in his hand. "Why?"

"Why what exactly? Why did they give you that implant? Simple, so that they had a way of controlling you." Itachi played with the remote control in his hands. "Or why does this work? That would be because the chip stops certain nervous functions. This state you are entering is how you should be, it's what you normally would be but the chip represses it and locks it away so that it can only be used when needed by those in control of you. Of course I'm sure there are some faults to the programming, as you don't appear to be shocked by the change happening inside you. Then again you are 'demons' after all." Itachi smirked slightly as he looked up.

"It's just the head ache that isn't normal." Gaara gripped his head with one hand, somehow hoping this would help suppress the pain.

"Well if you let your natural self take over then it won't hurt anymore. Why not just accept who you are? How you were made to be? It's not your fault you're like this, so why not use the power to your advantage?"

Sasuke watched on from the sidelines, feeling more and more useless as time went on. What was he supposed to do in this situation? What could he do? He jumped as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, not even knowing he still had it on him. He looked up; making sure that no one was focused on him and slipped the phone out, noting that it was Kakashi and that Iruka must have told him what had happened. He clicked the call on before slipping it back in his pocket, hoping that Kakashi would be able to trace the call quickly. He looked up again when he noticed Gaara's stance relax slightly, Naruto's following suit soon after.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it? And don't you feel more powerful now? More in control?"

"More in control, yes." Naruto flexed his hand, tightening it into a fist. "But then again, wouldn't that make _you_ less in control of us?"

Itachi looked surprised for a second before looking down at the remote; before he could look up he heard a muffled growl of pain beside him, turning around to see Gaara his hand extending through another Akatsuki member covered in black stitches, blood drenching the floor behind him. He blinked, and suddenly Gaara wasn't there anymore, a small dust cloud left in his wake.

"My speed does come in handy sometimes." Gaara grinned, sending a shiver down Sasuke's spine, his face covered in blood as he looked over the other members of Akatsuki, his blood splattered hand dripping blood in a small pool at his feet. "So much for controlling us."

"You OK, Kakuzu?" A white haired man standing next to him, watching him stand up shakily from the floor.

"Of course I am, Hidan." Kakuzu stood up properly, shifting his weight to regain his balance. "He didn't hit anything vital after all." He looked down at the hole high up in his chest, sighing annoyed. "Though I'm going to have to stitch myself up yet again later."

"You shouldn't have told us that." Naruto grinned as he felt more than saw Gaara disappear from beside him, going in for a second attack.

Kakuzu froze as suddenly Gaara was in front of him again.

"I'll have to make sure I hit something this time then, won't I?" Gaara smirked sadistically as he clenched his fist ready.

Itachi watched as Kakuzu went down again, this time becoming still. "Obviously there is a vital flaw in the programming." He clicked the button on the remote a few times but nothing happened, the two boys in front of them seeming non responsive to it now that they were in their 'demonic' forms.

"Well, no shit, Itachi." Deidara glared at him. "So now what do we do?"

Itachi sighed. "Take them in by force I guess." He stared at Deidara. "You can do that, can't you?"

"Tch." Deidara glared back before spinning to face the two boys, or the one he could see anyway. "Of course we can."

"Though they aren't going to be of use to us, are they?" Itachi thought it through before shrugging. "Kill them; otherwise they'll just become hassles."

Sasuke stood shivering as he watched Gaara 'play' with his prey. Movement caused him to look at Naruto who was looking ready to run into the fight as well, the grin on his face unnerved Sasuke. This wasn't the friend he'd made. The one who was always smiling even when he didn't understand what was going on. The one who understood how lonely he had felt even though he'd tried desperately to hide it. He shook his head, knowing that he had to do something, even if it was reckless and stupid. He ran forward as Naruto made a move, pulling him back.

"What are you doing?" Naruto turned to Sasuke, only a small inkling of recognition going through him.

Sasuke froze at the look he got from Naruto. The normal smiling face holding no emotions looking the same as Gaara had when they'd first met, the uncaring look that showed he found the whole situation tedious. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? This isn't you." He spoke quietly, his thoughts of helping disappearing as he realised how useless he was.

"How do you know this isn't me?" Naruto shook himself out of Sasuke's grip, his eyes showing anger. "What would you know?"

Sasuke glared back, he was pissed now at what Naruto was saying and how he was acting. He knew it wasn't his fault but he needed to snap him out of it and fast, or that's how he took the situation. "Maybe I don't know you but I can't imagine you're that good at acting. Who was it that could read my emotions like a book?"

Naruto continued to glare at him though his thoughts took a different route.

"_But not you...You don't wish for this, do you?...I have Gaara at least, who do you have?"_

"Where's the weird kid gone who thought it'd be OK to ask someone to be his brother?" Sasuke clung on to the small hope he had that he could get through to Naruto.

Naruto faltered for a second, dimly remembering himself smiling at Sasuke's kitchen table.

"_Hey, should we be brothers?"_

He shook his head, the thought disappearing from his head as he slipped back into his expressionless mask and turned away from Sasuke. His thoughts however were still in turmoil.

"Oi, moron! Don't you dare ignore me!" Sasuke had seen the falter and knowing that it was his chance to break through, didn't give up and let Naruto walk away.

"Bastard?" Naruto froze, snapping out suddenly of the other state, stumbling slightly as the head ache hit again for a second, marking his way back to his usual self.

Sasuke stepped forward quickly, grabbing Naruto's arm to make sure he didn't fall. "Who else, moron?"

Naruto shook his head, standing up slowly. "What was I thinking?" He looked down at his hands, annoyed that he had changed so easily.

"I don't think you had much choice in the matter." Sasuke looked over at Gaara, who was still having fun leading Akatsuki around in circles. "But I think with help you can choose when to come out of it."

Naruto followed his gaze to Gaara and nodded as he thought it through. "Right, we've got to get Gaara out of it then, don't we?" He walked forward slightly, grabbing Gaara's attention and gestured to him, jumping slightly as a blood splattered Gaara appeared in front of him.

"What?" Gaara shook his head, flicking some of the blood out of his eyes.

"It's time to stop now, Gaara." Naruto looked at him sternly.

"Why?" Gaara tilted his head slightly. "Why would I want to stop?"

"Because this isn't what you want." Naruto looked behind Gaara, noticing Akatsuki discussing what to do next. "Because we need to get out of here, quickly."

"You mean this isn't what _you_ want." Gaara looked at his hand, smiling at the blood. "I quite like this feeling." He looked up at Naruto's frantic expression. "Why can't you accept what we are?" He spun around. "And accept that I feel like killing them right now." Gaara started running again.

"But we escaped all of this!" Naruto shouted after him, hoping that he wasn't too late.

It took a few moments for the words to process in his head. He looked down at his hand, feeling the presence of another as he remembered the two of them running from the laboratory, gripping Naruto's hand as they went and pulling him along. He came to a skidding halt still staring at his hand as he fell over from the sudden stop. He grabbed his head again as the head ache welled up, willing it to disappear and let him carry on the way he was. He pulled his hand down again to stare at it, noting the blood smudged across it. He frowned as he noticed another red stain across it that wasn't blood.

"_Are you sure you don't want to wash that off?"_

"_I like it."_

"_You like it?" _

"_Yeah, that a problem?" _

"_No, it's just there's not a lot of stuff you actually like so I was shocked."_

He blinked up as the head ache disappeared, turning to see a relieved expression on Naruto's face.

"Good to see you back, Gaara." Naruto smiled at him.

Gaara looked down at himself, drenched in blood, wondering why he'd found it so nice to look at before. "Sorry." Back to normal, he was glad to find that he'd rather be the way he was and listen to Naruto's advice, he hadn't led him wrong so far.

"It's OK."

"Well done." Itachi clapped sarcastically before turning to the others. "You know who's best to go for first then, don't you?"

Naruto froze as he saw a metallic flash. "Sasuke, get down!" He spun, trying to push Sasuke out of the way.

The crack of a gunshot echoed through the area, though the resounding thud as it hit flesh seemed to resound more, along with the silence that followed.

Naruto peeked around warily, wondering why he didn't feel any pain. His eyes widening at the sight he was confronted with.

Gaara turned slightly to Naruto, smiling through the pain, as he held his side. A small stain of his own blood stained his clothes as he stumbled and fell backwards.

Naruto rushed forward, falling to his knees as he caught Gaara before he hit the floor. "Gaara?"

Gaara closed his eyes for a second as he gripped his side before opening them again and smiling up at Naruto.

"I told you I'd protect you, remember?"

* * *

***scurries off before she's killed by anyone***


	14. The significance of tears

**A/N: *looks up from where she scurried to* I'm not dead? This is good :3 At least I didn't leave the cliffhanger too long this time ^.^**

* * *

Naruto seemed caught in the eye of the storm, his awareness of the world closing into the sliver in front of him where Gaara lay, his head resting on his legs. He was in a state of shock; he knew that, but no matter what he thought he couldn't seem to shake himself out of it. He replayed the moment of Gaara falling over and over in his head.

"_Naruto! Naruto!"_

Naruto blinked up for a second as he felt someone shake his arm. He frowned as Kakashi shook him again, the words seeming to come through a filter to him as he blurrily watched other members of the police force run past. He could vaguely hear the sound of gun shots being fired but he didn't care enough to look around and find out who was shooting who. He felt Gaara stir slightly and his attention was instantly drawn to him, ignoring the fact that Kakashi had given up on him and was asking Sasuke what had happened instead.

"Naruto..."

"Gaara?" Naruto looked down as Gaara opened his eyes painfully slowly. "Don't speak stupid, you'll hurt yourself more."

Gaara coughed, laughing slightly. "I thought we didn't care about death?"

Naruto blanched slightly. "Don't say things like that! You're not dying." He moved so that he was letting Gaara rest properly on him as he thought things through. "And anyway, the way we think of death was taught to us at the lab, have they ever been right?"

"True." Gaara twitched at the movement before settling down. "But I don't want to get scared now." He touched his side before bringing the hand up to his face, rubbing the blood in his hand, his stomach turning at it. "Why does my own blood make me feel sick?"

Naruto tried to keep smiling along with Gaara even though his heart was beating rapidly. "That's because it hurts, stupid." He flopped his head down so that their foreheads were touching. "What were you thinking? Out of the two of us I'm more likely to heal than you are. It's what I'm good at after all."

Gaara pushed his head back so that he could look into Naruto's eyes. "I already said, I promised I'd protect you if you left the lab with me. I'm not going to suddenly change my mind now." His eyes betrayed a little bit of worry as he looked up. "We are family, right?"

"Of course we are." Naruto sniffed, trying not to cry. "I'd have done the same if it had been the other way round, so I can't really tell you off."

"You would have?"

"Of course!" Naruto went to hit him for being an idiot before realising he'd probably hurt him more.

Gaara blinked for a second before the worry disappeared, a smile appearing instead though it quickly turned into a smirk. "That's if you were fast enough to help me."

"Shut up, you." Naruto sniffed again, chuckling, though a stray tear made its way through, running down his face and dripping on to Gaara's.

"What are you doing?" Gaara shook his head, as a tear hit his eye. Wincing as he moved too quickly and upset his wound.

"Are you OK?" Naruto was alert, panicking. After everything they'd been put through he had no idea how to deal with the situation.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But what's happening to you?" Gaara looked up in confusion at the tears. "Your face is leaking."

Naruto choked slightly. "I don't know. It just happens when you're upset."

"You're upset?" Gaara stared up at Naruto concerned. "I don't like it when you're upset. I like your smile too much."

Naruto tried to smile but it didn't come out as it always was, instead seeming like a poor imitation.

Gaara sighed softly before moving his hand, taking Naruto's hand in his, liking the warmth and the familiarity of it. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"I understand Iruka's poem now."

"Huh?" Naruto frowned, his mind taking a minute to know what Gaara was even talking about.

"If I were to close my eyes for the last time, would you be there to hold my hand?" Gaara recited as he closed his eyes, his grip tightening around Naruto's hand, glad that he had a good memory, though he knew that he had thought about it a few times, only now understanding the significance of it.

"Gaara..."

"Shh, let me finish." Gaara spoke softer now, his voice slowly fading. "A-and guide me into the night? For if you could show me this final act of kindness...I would gladly walk into the dark, And wait for you wherever I end up." He coughed before opening one eye. "I understand now, it means a lot to have someone with you...it helps."

"Gaara, stop it. You're not dying!" Naruto hit his fist on the ground, pain shooting up his arm. Not that he noticed, the pain in his chest at not being able to do anything hurting more.

"I promise I'll wait for you."

Naruto froze as he looked up from the ground to see Gaara's determined eyes. "What?"

"I promise I'll wait for you and look after you wherever we end up." Gaara smiled softly. "If we end up anywhere that is."

"Gaara, please." Naruto gripped on to Gaara's hand. "Please stop saying things like that."

"Alright, I'll stop." Gaara closed his eyes again, his breath becoming shallower. "Keep talking to me though, OK, Naruto?"

"OK." Naruto looked around, finally taking notice of their situation. "It looks like we won't have any more trouble from Akatsuki." The fighting looked like it was over, he couldn't really tell how it had gone but it was better to lie for now. Otherwise he knew Gaara might try and get up again and help out.

"That's good..."

"Yeah." Naruto looked down, his eyes drawn to the smudged red felt tipped drawing on Gaara's forehead which sent a shiver down Naruto's spine as it showed how pale Gaara was getting. He chuckled to try and displace his fear. "It looks like I'll have to redo your drawing." He touched Gaara's forehead, moving the hair out of the way, feeling some heat to it but choosing to ignore it.

"You...do...that..."

Naruto winced at the whisper of Gaara's voice before freezing as he went completely still.

"G-Gaara?"

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he watched his friend wander around school; he didn't know what to do. Sure he'd been through a similar situation but that didn't help. He glared at the people whispering as Naruto walked past, angry that since the incident people had begun to shy away from him. He knew it was no one's fault; it was hard, after all, to keep it quiet that a student had been shot, though not many pupils knew the full story. Instead they just saw Gaara and Naruto as dangerous and that's all they felt they needed to know. "Not that Naruto is helping matters." He muttered to himself, sighing once again as Kiba tried to strike up a conversation with Naruto, hoping to cheer him up. But all he received for his troubles was a blank stare before Naruto continued.

Kiba frowned as he watched Naruto go before turning and noticing Sasuke. "You following him too?"

"Just making sure he doesn't get into trouble." Sasuke walked forward, continuing down the corridor with Kiba. "Any luck getting him back to his usual self?"

"Nope." Kiba played with his hair, annoyed that he couldn't help. "I know it's not his fault but he's acting just like Gaara was when they first arrived..." He winced at what he said. "That was bad phrasing, wasn't it?"

"At least none of the people who know him are acting like he's some criminal." Sasuke spoke loudly, noting some of the guilty expressions around him and was glad that he'd made an impact on at least a few, even though he didn't show it.

"We can't do anything really though, can we?"

Sasuke turned back to Kiba, shaking his head. "No, there's only one thing that'll get Naruto back to his usual self and that's to have Gaara with him." He looked up at the sky as they walked outside. "I wonder if he's sleeping much, he's used to Gaara being in the same room as him..."

* * *

Naruto pulled his phone out of his pocket as it rang, not even knowing where in the school he was at that moment. He seemed to wander around aimlessly when he wasn't in class, though luckily he seemed to be able to find his way back in time so that he wasn't late for any classes, not that anyone would have blamed him if he was. He flicked it open, answering the call. "How's Gaara?"

"Hello to you too, Naruto." Kakashi sighed at the other end of the phone.

"How's Gaara?"

"Naruto, I have other things to talk about right no-"

"_How's Gaara_?" Naruto repeated more firmly this time.

"Fine, if you won't talk to me properly until I say. He's in a stable condition."

Naruto relaxed a bit, the first hint of a smile appearing for the first time since the incident. "Really?"

"Yeah, he's still asleep though but that's just because they haven't found a suitable donor for a blood transfusion...Don't worry though, he seems to be coming along fine on his own." Kakashi added the last part quickly; worried he'd get a bombardment of questions.

"Can I see him yet?" Naruto whispered. He hadn't understood why he wasn't allowed in the operating theatre with Gaara, scared that if he let go of his hand he'd lose him forever, but that hadn't stopped the doctors wheeling him away, leaving only the trace of his hand in Naruto's. Since then he hadn't seen Gaara, not up close anyway, only through the small window into his hospital room.

"I'll ask, OK? As soon as they let his family in I'll let you know and you can go with them, OK?"

"I'm his family as well." Naruto mumbled this, annoyed that no one else could see this.

"I know that Naruto that's why you have as much right to see him as they do, so as soon as anyone can go in, I'll make sure you know, OK?"

"OK." Naruto leant against the wall, slipping down slightly in relief at Kakashi's words, feeling a little bit more optimistic about the day. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah, it's rather important. Do you think you could meet me? I've already told Iruka so you don't have to worry about that."

Naruto frowned at the sudden change in Kakashi's voice, noting the seriousness of the situation. "OK, I'll meet you in a bit."

"Good...actually, I'll pick you up from the school. I'll feel better if I do that."

* * *

**See? I'm not that mean ^^;**


	15. Family reunion

**A/N: I apologise now if I forget in later chapters for ooc'ness of some characters, or I expect they'll be out of character anyway ^^; I'm always apologising, aren't I? .;**

* * *

"What's this about, Kakashi?" Naruto slipped into the front seat of the car, slamming the door behind him as he did so.

Kakashi growled softly. "Don't slam the door, this is my car, you know?" He looked down as Naruto sat with his arms folded; taking on a habit Gaara seemed to do a lot. "Seatbelt, Naruto." He flicked his eyes back to the road, driving off again.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I forget." Naruto grabbed the belt, clipping it around him before turning to look out of the window.

"So, how's school going?" Kakashi felt weird in the awkward silence, an unusual aspect to this drive as opposed to the normally hyperactive boy beside him. He checked around them, noticing that Sasuke was watching them leave and nodded in reassurance, hoping that Iruka would tell Naruto's friends that everything was OK.

"Same as always, I guess."

Kakashi tuned out of his thoughts and back into the car, he sighed softly. "That's not what Iruka's been saying."

"Oh...did I do something bad, is this what this is about?" Naruto looked over, frowning slightly as he tried to think of what he could have done.

"No, Naruto. That's not what I meant." Kakashi shook his head, wondering what he was meant to say in this situation. "He's just worried about you, that's all and form what he's been saying so are your classmates."

"Oh." Naruto went silent for a while. "Why are they worried about me?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked over at Naruto in disbelief. "Isn't that obvious?"

"No."

"They worry about you because they care and because you aren't acting like your usual self."

Naruto blinked at him for a bit before staring back out the window. "I don't like it."

"Don't like what?" Kakashi turned back to the road, not understanding where the conversation was going.

"That feeling...worry, it's horrid." Naruto shivered, playing with his sleeves. "It's the feeling I get at the moment whenever I think of Gaara, isn't it?"

"Yeah, probably." Kakashi frowned as he drove round a corner. "And you now know that you're making other people worry."

"Why do they care?"

"What?" Kakashi glanced at Naruto before slamming on the brakes, just stopping in front of a red light. "Shit..." He glared at Naruto for a second. "What the hell is that supposed to mean exactly?"

Naruto looked back up at the sharpness in Kakashi's voice, pulling at the seatbelt as it hurt his neck after the sudden stop. "What? I'm just asking?"

Kakashi's glare disappeared at the hurt in Naruto's eyes. "Sorry, I thought you were wishing they didn't care at all. Like you thought you weren't worth it or something."

"No...I just don't understand." Naruto frowned as he sat up straighter, having slipped down in his seat. "I wouldn't wish them all away ever." He thought about all the friends he'd made recently, feeling glad and guilty at the same time that they would worry about him.

Kakashi looked up and pulled away as the light changed before answering, trying to think of a good answer. "I don't know why for each person, we all grow attached and care for people in different ways. It's hard to explain." He thought for another second. "Can I ask you a question instead?"

"Sure."

"Why do you care about Gaara?"

Naruto looked at him shocked for a second. "What?"

"You're asking me why people care about you so answer me, why you care about Gaara? You're obviously worried about him." Kakashi tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, wondering whether this line of questioning was going to help the issue.

"He's family." Naruto answered after not much thought.

"Family? But he isn't really is he?" Kakashi tried not to wince at the glare he got as he took a peek at Naruto, not used to it from him.

"I thought you understood that?" Naruto let out an annoyed sigh, looking out of the window again. "We are family, we decided."

"Why? Why did you decide that?"

"Just because we did." Naruto snapped. "Why can't we be family? We think of each other that way and we care about each other so why is it so hard to understand?"

"I do understand, Naruto." Kakashi smiled at him, making him confused. "You've answered your own question. There's not really one definable reason for why you care about Gaara is there? You just do and that's probably the way most of your classmates feel."

Naruto blinked a few times as he let the revelation sink in. "Oh, I think I get it." He smiled slightly as he thought it over.

"Good." Kakashi relaxed more now, relieved to finally see a smile on Naruto's face. "It's good to see you smiling as well." He debated putting on the radio as the silence came over the two of them again but it wasn't as awkward a silence this time, more of a comfortable one. "I heard you've gained more family members." He smiled at Naruto's confused look. "I took a statement from Sasuke about what happened because you didn't seem up to it. He tried to skim over some details but I made him tell me everything that happened in full, like how one of 'Akatsuki' was already dead before we got there." He felt Naruto tense beside him. "Sorry but I had to find out how to..." He paused wondering how to be sensitive about it.

"How to stop me or Gaara if anything happens again?" Naruto finished the sentence off for him feeling slightly disgusted with himself for what had happened and what he could have done.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"That's OK; I'd rather you knew how to get me out of that situation instead of me hurting someone." Naruto tried to smile but it didn't really reach his eyes. "So what does that have to do with family?"

"Sasuke said he helped you get out of the...state, by trying to make you remember things. He said you asked him to be your brother or something?" Kakashi smiled softly at the memory, even though Sasuke had been through that experience and now had to do a witness statement he had smiled at the thought. "I'm glad he's found someone he can open up to and try and help in a bad situation."

Naruto chuckled. "He keeps following me around at the moment; I think he's worried I'll get myself into another 'situation'."

Kakashi laughed. "Maybe that's his way of showing he cares or he doesn't know what to say that could help so he thinks that's all he can do."

"Maybe." Naruto's smile grew without him being able to help it before he frowned again. "Wait, this can't be what you wanted to talk to me about; otherwise it could have waited, right?"

Kakashi froze for a second before ignoring the question and continuing to drive. "I'll tell you at the station, we're almost there."

"Kakashi." Naruto, now suspicious, whined at him.

"Alright, alright." Kakashi sighed, parking up the car on the side of the road. "I guess we can talk here." He opened the window looking out before closing it again and sitting back down, turning off the engine.

"What's going on?" Naruto bit his lip at Kakashi's actions.

"I lied about no one being able to see Gaara at the moment." Kakashi held up a hand as Naruto started to protest. "Hear me out, please, Naruto." He waited until Naruto nodded before continuing. "We've got a policeman sitting in with Gaara...as protection."

"Protection? Protection against what?" Naruto's face darkened at the thought of someone trying to hurt Gaara. "And why can't I protect him?"

"Because we don't know exactly what we're protecting you from." Kakashi sighed, ruffling his hand through his hair, showing Naruto how tired he looked.

"Wait, 'you'? I thought we were talking about Gaara?"

"We are, we're talking about both of you which is why you can't be allowed to be the one protecting him. Believe me; I've had a hard time keeping Jiraiya from putting you into police custody. I didn't think you'd appreciate it." Kakashi looked over guiltily at Naruto. "Though I keep wondering if that was a good idea."

"Kakashi, just tell me what's going on from the beginning." Naruto undid his seatbelt so that he could move more freely and turned to face Kakashi. "You aren't making any sense."

"Someone got into the solitary confinement cells that the members of that group were in." Kakashi hoped saying it quickly would lessen it somehow. "They're all dead."

"The 'Akatsuki' members?"

"Yeah."

"They're all dead?"

"That's right. We found them in the morning." Kakashi sighed. "Unlike the kids we were looking after yet again, when we found them all again, we didn't think about protecting them and look what happens."

"There were no security cameras?"

"Apparently not, it's made us realise we need to up security. Though it does mean someone got in and out of the police station without anyone noticing so I'd say the person is professional."

Naruto nodded. "But why?" He saw Kakashi hesitate and realised they didn't actually know. "Why do you think they were killed? And I don't mean what do the police think, I mean what do you think? You seem to have good intuition."

Kakashi smirked. "Well, thanks but I don't think you'll like my input." He rested his head on his arms, leaning on the steering wheel. "I think someone wanted them kept quiet."

"Kept quiet?"

"Destroy the evidence of what happened at the U&U labs and there's no way anyone would believe that it wasn't just an animal testing centre."

"Oh." Naruto let it sink in. "So you think whoever it is might come after us as well?"

"Maybe, but..." Kakashi frowned. "There aren't many people who know about what really happened at the centre." He looked over at Naruto, hoping he'd understand. "Sasuke's family but all of them are dead, you guys but I can't imagine you going to kill them, the police..."

"And my father, right?" Naruto had been pondering before he looked over at Kakashi. "You already knew that, didn't you?"

Kakashi nodded. "As I said, I got all the details from Sasuke, I can be persuasive when I need info." He smirked before his face fell again. "I can't find any information on him but he seems the most likely suspect. But I don't know what his view is on your generation of experiments." He frowned. "He might not hurt you but he might hurt the others if they're in the way."

"That's your theory though, right?" Naruto relaxed slightly as Kakashi nodded. "Sorry, but I want to believe in my real family...at least until I get the information from him."

Kakashi nodded. "That's understandable." He looked at the time. "Well, that was what I wanted to talk about; do you want me to drive you home? School will have ended by now."

"If that's OK." Naruto went back to looking out of the window as Kakashi started up the car; he waited awhile before saying something that had been nagging at him. "Hey, Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it weird that I feel bad for those criminals?" Naruto frowned, puzzled. "I'm angry at them for hurting Gaara and I keep thinking they deserved it but then I remember that they're just like us. They were experimented on and made into what they were and they were killed for being created. So is it OK to feel like that?"

"Well...you have to remember that they were already criminals and murderers beforehand." Kakashi paused in thought. "But I don't think it's a bad thing to feel the way, it shows you can empathise."

"Empathise?"

"You can see it from both sides of the argument, it's a good quality." Kakashi smiled at him before going silent again.

"Thanks." Naruto smiled, glad that it was OK before going silent.

Most of the car journey back was in silence, though Kakashi thought of something as they came closer to Naruto and Gaara's apartment. "I'm not trying to be insensitive, Naruto, but how are you doing? Are you sure you're OK in there on your own?"

Naruto grinned his signature grin. "Of course I'm OK."

"Naruto, don't lie to me, I can see the bags under your eyes from here." Kakashi pulled up outside the flat. "I just want to make sure you're looking after yourself, Gaara will kill me if you don't." He smiled as Naruto chuckled. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Keep on looking after Gaara, that's all I want." Naruto opened the door. "Thanks for the lift."

"One last thing."

Naruto turned back to Kakashi, leaning on the door as he waited.

"Do you think I should tell Gaara what's going on straight away or leave it for a bit?" Kakashi bit his lip. "See, I know he should know because it concerns him but I also think that if I tell him while he's still recovering he'll try and get up before he's ready."

"That's true." Naruto frowned for a second before grinning. "Let's think positive. Either we'll have sorted everything out first or I'll be there when he wakes up." He looked at Kakashi hopefully.

"Ouch, emotional blackmail. Fine, I'll see if I can get you in the hospital but I'm not promising." Kakashi grinned back. "At least now I have an excuse to give Jiraiya, that you'll be there to help keep Gaara informed."

"Just tell me as soon as he wakes up and everything will be OK." Naruto slammed the door before walking away.

"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi opened his window. "See you soon, try not to make everyone worry so much." He drove off when all he received was a wave.

Naruto walked up the stairwell to their apartment, smiling all the way now that he was more likely to get information on Gaara as soon as anything happened. He opened the door, kicking off his shoes as he did so, before shutting the door behind him. His smile vanished to a more suspicious look as he caught a sight of movement in the next room. "Who's there?"

"That's not any way to talk to your father is it?"


	16. A blessing or a curse?

**A/N: Severe writer's block with this chapter . Hope it's Ok and apologies again for oocness. If it's too much feel free to think of Naruto's father in this as an OC ^^;**

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"Oh." Naruto walked slowly into the next room, not relaxing at all on knowing who was waiting for him. He glanced around, noting the open window. "Did I leave it open or did you break it?"

"Does it matter?"

He turned back to the man sitting on Gaara's bed and tried not to let the fact anger him at all. He tried to recognise the man, noting the blond hair and blue eyes staring back at him were remarkably similar to those he saw when he stared in the mirror. The smile, however, he noticed wasn't like his own at all, it was more cunning, more calculating in its delivery. "I guess not, I'd just like to know whether I need to get it fixed or not."

"True, and I would have scolded you for your security measures if I'd just slipped in through the open window." The man nodded as he said this, pondering through it. "But don't worry about the cost; we'll be leaving soon after all." He patted the space on the bed next to him, hoping Naruto would take the hint and sit next to him.

"Leaving?" Naruto came closer but stayed standing, still suspicious of the man in front of him. "Why would I leave with you?"

"I'm your father, that's why." The man smiled again, hoping to win Naruto's trust. "Why not call me it, just once? I haven't heard you say 'Dad' in years."

Naruto frowned as he took a step closer, leaning against his own bed. "Father? Is that what you want me to say?"

"Well, I'd rather 'Dad' but I guess I'll have to wait awhile for that." He gave a little sigh before the smile reappeared. "How am I going to get you to trust me Naruto?"

"Well, first by not lying to me." Naruto tried not to grin as the smile faltered for a second but he kept his face expressionless. "See from what I've heard. You left me at the lab not long after I was born, so how would I have ever called you 'Dad'?"

The smile disappeared again to be replaced by a look of fatherly disappointment, all an act in Naruto's eyes. "Where did you hear such a horrible lie? Just like all the other parents who've now been reunited with their children, I knew nothing about what had happened to you."

"Save it, I know you're a partner of the lab." Naruto frowned for a second as he tried to remember. "You helped pay for the experiments, didn't you? I was the reason for all the experiments. So I'd be much more likely to trust you if you told me the truth." He glared. "So how about we start with why this all started in the first place?"

The man sighed. "I did wonder if we'd have to go down this route, but I'd really much rather we didn't." He glanced up at Naruto's determined face before sighing again. "Fine, but ask a less generalised question."

Naruto pondered for a second, wondering if this was his way of skimming over details if he got the chance. "Why would you put your own son up for experiments?"

"Because you were weak." The man's face was expressionless. "I wanted to make sure you were strong, I didn't want to lose you as well."

"As well?"

"Your mother..." He looked out of the window, his expression painful. "She died giving birth to you." He turned back to Naruto, pleadingly. "I never blamed you, I hope you know. You were too pitiful for me to blame and I was too relieved that you at least had survived to even contemplate it."

"Oh." Naruto frowned, wondering why it didn't hurt as much to know his mother had died as it had to even think about Gaara being hurt a few days earlier, yet alone the thought of him dying which he frequently dismissed in favour of distractions. "Surely there are other ways to make someone strong?"

The man shrugged. "It was the best course of action in my eyes, I'm a scientist after all, and I went for the scientific approach." He leaned forward, his eyes sparkling as he spoke. "Anyway, don't you enjoy your strength? I made sure you were given enhanced healing powers, as I said it was to protect you and make you strong after all." He looked slightly disappointed. "Unfortunately after the prototype experiments I wouldn't have minded having myself blessed with your abilities, however as you've seen from the first experiment, the genetic testing doesn't take to adult tissue very well."

Naruto tried not to shiver at the man's disgusted look as he thought about the 'Dawn' experiments. "Did you do it?" He spoke quietly, hoping his suspicions weren't true.

"Did I do what?" The man's smile slipped back on smoothly.

"Did you kill them?" Naruto stared at him, almost daring him to lie. "Did you kill the 'prototypes'?"

"Yes." The man's smile shifted as Naruto, his face darkening. "Come on Naruto, they tried to kill you. They were using their gifts wrongly and had always been criminals ready for execution, did I really do that bad a thing?"

Naruto stood up again, backing away from him. "It's still murder."

"Murdering people already pronounced dead?"

"You killed them because you didn't like what you'd created." Naruto shook his head, any hope of becoming close to his father disappearing.

"No, that's not true. They were _criminals_ already, son." He stood up, stepping closer. "Nothing I did changed the fact that they were already murderers themselves."

Naruto took another step back. "No, stay there. I'd rather you didn't come closer. So is that what you'll do to us? The children, if we don't do what you hope we will do?"

"Naruto, Naruto." He shook his head as he took a step back again, depressed. "I'd never hurt you or your friends, you haven't done anything wrong."

Naruto's head snapped up at those words. "Me or my friends? Is that a way of skimming around the question? I only ever made friends with one of the other children after all."

"Oh yes, you made one excellent friend, didn't you?" The man smiled again. "Trust me, I'd never hurt him after what he did for you. Is he OK? In the hospital?"

Naruto's face darkened as he took another step back. "Don't go near Gaara, do you hear?"

The man shrugged and raised his arms wide before they flopped back down again. "OK, OK, I'm sorry for keeping an eye on your friend." He gave Naruto an appraising look. "You do know that if he hadn't had his gift he most likely wouldn't have survived that wound, don't you?"

"If you hadn't stolen him away from his family and put him through all those tests, he'd have never been in that situation." Naruto snapped at him, his anger boiling over.

Another sigh echoed through the now quite silent apartment. "I'll take that as a no to leaving with me then?"

"Yes. I'd like you to leave now on your own." Naruto nodded, his arms crossed.

"I am family, you know. Your only family."

"No, you're not." Naruto smirked slightly at the dumbfounded look. "I've made my own family here. I've got at least two great brothers." He smiled to himself at the thought of Sasuke and Gaara. "And I'm hoping to add to that with all the people who have accepted us here." His smile softened as his thoughts went to everyone else. The smile slipped slightly as he realised how he had been acting around them lately when he was only thinking about Gaara in hospital. He nodded to himself as he made him remember to apologize to them but he knew they probably wouldn't accept anyway, they understood what he was going through.

"That's not family, that's friends. You don't choose family." The smile had disappeared completely.

"Why? Why can't I choose my family? I wouldn't choose you given any chance to do so." Naruto looked up at him again before looking at the window. "So, get going. Now."

"Fine." The man walked over to the window, his annoyance showing. "But understand that I will be back, Naruto. Hopefully you will understand then how important I am to you. Maybe when you realise how fickle people can be." He looked over his shoulder as he put one foot up on the windowsill. "When those _friends_ of yours find out what you and Gaara are I don't think they'll be as kind to you."

"So much for your gift being a blessing then." Naruto muttered as he watched his father disappear through the window. He was happily surprised to realise that he didn't really care that his father was leaving him again. After all the time wondering what his family would be like he finally understood what Sasuke had been on about, it was the people in the family that made it what it was. "I think the family I've got now is good enough for me." He smiled before going to the window and closing it as best he could.


	17. A new beginning?

-A few days later-

Naruto sat on a bench overlooking the apartment, staring up with faint curiosity at the workmen fixing the window.

"Mind if I sit?"

Naruto looked down to the person standing in front of him, his eyes widening in shock slightly before he smiled softly. "I don't know, have you actually been discharged from the hospital this time?"

Gaara sat down next to him with a soft 'hmph'. "Of course, I have."

"To be honest, I don't trust you after last time." Naruto punched him in the arm. He'd woken up in the night to find Gaara standing over him, having come through the broken window to make sure he was OK. "I told Kakashi not to tell you what had happened until I was there as well." He tutted.

"Yeah, well I kept pestering him to tell me why I had an armed guard watching me." Gaara rubbed his arm. "He caved after I asked him whether he was worried I'd change again."

"Ouch, emotional blackmail." Naruto grinned, using Kakashi's own words, before giving Gaara a hug. "I missed you, you know."

"Ow, I may be out of hospital but I'm not completely better." Gaara tried not to wince and grabbed Naruto's hands as he tried to pull away. "Doesn't mean I don't want it." He smirked slightly as Naruto tightened his grip.

Naruto sighed as he rested his head on Gaara's shoulder. "What happens now, Gaara?"

"Like what?"

"He said he'd come back at some point." Naruto frowned, staying in position even though Gaara tried to shift around.

"Your father?" Gaara felt Naruto nod into his shoulder, already knowing what had happened when Naruto next came to the hospital to see him after the incident. "Don't worry about it."

"Huh?"

"If he comes, he comes. If he doesn't, he doesn't. Don't worry about it; just do what you always do." Gaara shrugged, looking into the distance as he felt Naruto pull away.

"So just be me?" Naruto smiled as Gaara nodded before following his gaze. "So is this finally the end of it all?"

"Not really." Gaara glanced at Naruto before turning around again. "I think it's more like a new beginning. We can do what we want now; live our lives just like everyone else."

"'just like everyone else' I like that, it's got a good ring to it." Naruto smirked as he leaned back on the bench. "So we get to be normal right?"

"Well, I wouldn't call you two norma- ow, what'd you do that for?"

Naruto looked up as their classmates stopped in front of them, Kiba rubbing his head where Sakura had whacked it.

"What he meant to say was that, you're unique and that's not a bad thing." Sakura glared at him.

"What? That's what I meant." Kiba grumbled, still rubbing his head.

"So, are you two coming or what, we've been waiting for ages." Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets as he watched the pair of them.

Naruto turned to Gaara confused, who was smirking slightly.

"I thought we could have some fun once I got discharged, but I wanted it to be a surprise." Gaara looked away slightly sheepish.

Naruto grinned as it sunk in and he stood up. "Let's go then."

"Yeah, come on, all this waiting is troublesome." Shikamaru walked off without them, the others following suit, leaving Naruto and Gaara trailing behind.

"Your father was wrong, I think, about you needing him one day." Gaara walking in step with Naruto as he said it quietly, not even caring if Naruto responded.

"Yeah, I think you're right. He was wrong about some other things too. Like that our friends would desert us once they knew what we were."

Gaara smiled. "Yeah, he'd be shocked at how understanding our friends seem to be." They'd decided all the secrecy had to be done away with, they couldn't change who they were so their friends might as well get used to the real them. They just hadn't expected the transition to go as smoothly as it did.

"But it wouldn't have mattered even if they hadn't taken it that well. I still would never need him."

Gaara frowned at the determination in Naruto's voice. "Why's that?" He frowned as Naruto grabbed his hand and pulled him in tightly before whispering in his ear.

"That's why." Naruto grinned before rushing forward to join the others.

Gaara blinked for a second before his smile grew at Naruto's words and he walked forward quickly to join the group himself, slipping his hand in Naruto's to show that he understood Naruto completely. His thoughts replayed the words over and over, even though he knew he should probably be paying attention to whatever Kiba was shouting or whatever the conversation the rest of the group were having as they ignored Kiba's rants at least but he knew they'd be used to his silence by now and he was more than happy to ignore them in favour of ingraining that one sentence into his mind.

"_Because I'll never let go of this hand."_

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**A/N: The end~ I hope the ending was OK ^.^ and I hope you had fun reading the whole story, even if it took me forever to actually finish . But hey, we're here now :3 Thank you for reading~**


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